CONGEEGATIONAL COUNCIL, 






DEBATES AND PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



:^ATIONAL cou:^ciL 



CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES, 



BOSTOIT, MASS., JUI^E 14-24, 1865. 



FEOM THE PHONOGRAPHIC KEPOKT BY 

J. M. W. YEREINTON and HENRY M. PARKHURST. 



BOSTON: 

AMEKICAN C0:N^GEEGATI0KAL ASSOCIATION, 

23 Chauncy Street. 

1866. 



^\0l 






\%^' 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by 

ISAAC P. LANG WORTHY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



#BSAUM coi.. eta. 



PREFACE. 



When the Congregational Cliurclies of the United States were 
about to assemble in National Council in the year 1865, the Committee 
of Arrangements, in Boston, — Ee^. Andrew L. Stone, of Boston, chair- 
man, — secured the services of a phonographic reporter for the entire 
session of the Council. This arrangement was officially sanctioned 
by the Council itself; and a complete report of the debates and pro- 
ceedings, made by men of eminent ability in that work, was thus ob- 
tained. Their manuscripts, with the original records and papers, were, 
by vote of the Council, placed on perpetual deposit with the Directors of 
the American Congregational Association ; and the Directors were 
" authorized to publish a volume of proceedings and debates." 

The Directors believed that a volume containing the acts and dis- 
cussions entire would be of permanent historical value as well as 
of present interest to the churches. They determined to publish it, and 
appointed E.ev. Alonzo H. Quint, E,ev. Isaac P. Langworthy, Rev. 
Henry M. Dexter, Edward S. Tobey, Esq., and Eev. Eufiis Anderson, 
D. D., to edit the work and carry it through the press. That commit- 
tee placed it in the hands of a sub-committee, consisting of E-ev. A. H. 
Quint, and Eev. Isaac P. Langworthy, who have superintended the 
publication of this volume. 

In the execution of this duty, the main object has been to give to 
the public a faithful and exact copy of the phonographic report. That 
report has been varied from only in the following particulars : State- 
ments introductory to items of business have been occasionally modified 
to secure uniformity in style ; the names of members have been cor- 
rected when misstated ; for occasional abstracts of votes, the full 

(V) 



VI PREFACE. 

official language has been substituted, and a few changes have been 
found necessary on comparison with the record of the secretaries ; and 
manifest errors in phraseology (extremely rare) have been corrected, 
although only upon the suggestion of those whose authority was un- 
questionable. The fidelity of the phonographers has proved to be 
worthy of special mention. 

It was also thought desirable to insert an account of the various 
proceedings of different ecclesiastical bodies preliminary to, and result- 
ing in, the assembly of the Council ; and to add freely any explanatory 
notes which seemed needed, to make a complete historical record. The 
list of members, with their nativity, prepared by Rev. Increase IST. Tar- 
box, and inserted at the close of the work, will doubtless be appre- 
ciated. As a matter of historical interest, a brief account of the 
several Synods or Councils, general or nearly so, which have been 
held by the American Congregational Churches, has been prefixed ; 
and full indexes of topics and names are added at the close. 

The committee trust that this work will be of permanent historical 
value ; as well as meet the wishes of that large body of Christian 
churches which felt called by God to deliberate upon new duties in a 
day marked by the downfall of treason, and the deliverance of mil- 
lions from human slavery, 

Alonzo H. Quint, 
Isaac P. Langworthy, 
Henry M. Dexter, 
Edward S. Tobey, 
EuFus Anderson, 

Committee, 

Boston, Massachusetts, May, 1866. 



CONTENTS 



Preyious Sykods or Cottncils held by the Ameri- 
can Congregational Churches. . . . ix-xiv 
Proceedings Preliinhnary to the Assembling of 

THE Council of 1865, . . . .- 1-18 

Debates and Proceedings, .... 19-500 

First Day, 19-30 

Second Day, ...... 30-79 

Third Day, 79-147 

Fourth Day, 147-196 

Fifth Day, . . . . . 196-250 

Sixth Day, . . . . . . 250-301 

Seventh Day, 301-361 

Eighth Day, 361-383 

Ninth Day, . . . . . 384-447 

Tenth Day, ...... 447-500 

iN'AMES AND Nativities of the Meivibers, . . 501-516 

Index of Subjects, ...... 517-522 

Index of Names, ...... 523-530 



PREVIOUS SYNODS OR COUNCILS 

HELD BY THE 

AMERICAN CONGREGATIONAL QHURCHES. 



General Synods have been few in the history of American 
Congregationalism. In the denial of any central human au- 
thority, — a principle fundamental in this polity, — they have 
been convened only by mutual consent ; and, necessarily, only 
when some matter of " common concern " seemed to the 
churches to be of sufficient importance to require such a pro- 
ceeding. It is hardly necessary to say, that 

" The proper function of a synod is not to legislate for the churches, 
nor to determine imperatively any question which is not already deter- 
mined by the Scriptures, but by inquiry and brotherly conference, with 
prayer for divine illumination, to obtain and hold forth light on such 
matters as the churches have referred to its deliberations." ^ 

The first Synod was held in 1637. It was called after con- 
sultation of '' sundry elders and brethren," ^ in consequence 
of the disturbances caused by the speculations of John Wheel- 
wright, Mistress Anne Hutchinson, and others. It met on the 
thirtieth day of August, 1637, at Newtown, now Cambridge, 
Mass. ; consisted of " all the teaching elders through the coun- 
try," ^ and of "messengers from the churches,"* — "about 
twenty-five godly ministers of Christ, besides many other gra- 
ciously-eminent servants of his;"^ chose Rev. Peter Bulkley, 
of Concord, and Rev. Thomas Hooker, of Hartford, modera- 
tors ; examined and condemned " eighty [eighty-two] erroneous 

1 Page 124. 

2 Cotton's Way of the Congregational Churches Cleared. Ed. 1648, p. 40. 
8 Winthrop's Journal, Savage's Ed. 1853, 1. 285. 

* Cotton's Way, p. 40. 

5 The number of churches then existing, appears to be as follows : Massachusetts Bay, 
thirteen; Plymouth, four; Connecticut, two; total, nineteen. Possibly two or three 
others, whose dates are doubtful, may have been in existence. 

(IX) 



XII PREVIOUS SYNODS. 

tenth day of September. Rev. John Sherman and Rev. Urian 
Oakes were moderators. The questions before it were, 1. What 
are the evils that have provoked the Lord to bring his judg- 
ments on New England ? 2. What is to be done, that so these 
evils may be reformed ? The Synod held two sessions ; unani- 
mously approved the Platform of 1648 ; spent " several days " ^ 
in discussing the questions presented ; and adjourned on the 
19th. The result, which was drawn up by Increase Mather, 
was presented to the General Court, October 15, 1679,^ which 
commended them to the " serious consideration of all the 
churches and people of this jurisdiction," and ordered the 
report to be printed. 

The same Synod held a second session, on the twelfth of 
May, 1680, — Increase Mather, moderator, — and "consulted 
and considered of a Confession of Faith." ^ It adopted, with 
slight variations, the Confession consented to by the Congrega- 
tional Churches of England, at the Savoy, in 1658, which was, 
" for the most part, some small variations excepted, the same 
with that which was agreed upon first by the Assembly at West- 
minster, and was approved of by the Synod at Cambridge, in 
New England, Anno 1648.* " That little variation," says the 
Synod, " which we have made from the one, in compliance with 
the other, may be seen by those who please to compare them." 
This Confession was ordered, by the General Court,^ to be 
printed. 

The Synod, which met at Saybrook, in 1708, was confined to 
Connecticut. It was called. May 24, 1708, by the Legislature, 
which had been " made sensible of the defects of discipline in 
the churches of this government, arising from the want of more 
explicit asserting of the rules given for that end in the Holy 
Scriptures, from which would arise a permanent establishment 
among ourselves, a good and regular issue in cases subject to 
ecclesiastical discipline, glory to Christ our head, and edifica- 
tion to his members." The Legislature directed that the min- 
isters of the several counties should meet at the county towns, 
with such messengers as the churches should send, consider and 
agree upon methods and rules of ecclesiastical discipline, and 

1 Results of Three Synods, Ed. 1725, p. vi. 2 Mass. Records, V. 244. 

3 Preface to Result. * Ibid. 

5 Mass. Records, V. 287. 



PREVIOUS SYNODS. XIII 

appoint two or more of their number to meet at Saybrook ; 
there to " draw a form of ecclesiastical discipline," to be laid 
before the Legislature at its October session. 

The Synod met at Saybrook on the ninth of September. 
Rev. James Noyes, of Stonington, and Eev. Thomas Bucking- 
ham, of Saybrook, were moderators. The first act of this Synod 
was to accept the Confession of Faith set forth by the Massa- 
chusetts Synod of 1680. The second, was to " agree, also, that 
the Heads of Agreement assented to by the United Ministers, 
formerly called Presbyterian and Congregational, be observed 
by the churches throughout this Colony ; " the Heads of Agree- 
ment adopted in London, in 1691. The main work, however, 
was the adoption of fifteen " Articles of Discipline," which 
established the consociation system. The entire platform was 
reported to the Legislature, at its October session ; which or- 
dained " that all the churches within this government, that are, 
or shall be, thus united in doctrine, worship, and discipline, be, 
and for the future shall be, owned and acknowledged established 
by law." 1 

More than two hundred years had elapsed before the American 
churches again met in council. The third general Synod,^ 
known as " a Convention of Ministers and Delegates of Congre- 
gational Churches in the United States ; " ^ met " in accord- 
ance with a call issued by direction of the General Association 
of New York." It assembled in Albany, N. Y., on the fifth 
day of October, 1852 ; consisted of four hundred and sixty- 
three elders and messengers from churches in seventeen States ; 
chose Rev. William T. Dwight, d. d., of Maine, President, and 
Rev. Noah Porter, d. d., of Connecticut, and Rev. Asa Turner 
of Iowa, Yice-Presidents ; and dissolved on the eighth day of 
October. 

1 See Historical Discourse, by Rev. Leonard Bacon, d. d., in Contributions to the 
Ecclesiastical History of Connecticut. 

2 Proceedings. 

3 The number of churches then existing in the United States has not been computed 
with accuracy. They numbered, probably, not far from two thousand. An estimate by 
Eev. Joseph S. Clark, d. d., in 1847, made the number to be one thousand five hundred 
and ninety-five, at that date. Careful statistics found in 1858, two thousand three hun- 
dred and eighty-five. In the year 1865, that of the National Council at Boston, the 
number was two thousand seven hundred and twenty -three (not including, of course, 
the churches outside the limits of the United States), with two hundred and sixty-three 
thousand two hundred and ninety-six members; and of qainisters, two thousand eight 
hundred and two. 



XIV PREVIOUS SYNODS. 

The main subjects upon which the Convention acted, were, 
1. The subject of aiding feeble churches at the West, in build- 
ing church edifices. 2. The construction and practical opera- 
tion of the " Plan of Union between Presbyterians and Congre- 
gationalists," agreed upon by the General Assembly of the 
Presbyterian Church and the General Association of Connecti- 
cut in the year 1801. 

Upon the first, the Convention adopted a plan for raising the 
sum of fifty thousand dollars at once, and for its apportionment 
and use. 

Upon the second, the Convention found that the Plan had 
been repudiated by the General Assembly before the schism of 
1838, but was acknowledged as in force by one branch of that 
church ; that although so acknowledged, it was not maintained 
in its integrity, and that its operation was now " unfavorable to 
the spread of and permanence of the Congregational polity, and 
even to the real harmony of these Christian communities ; " and 
therefore unanimously declared its continuance to be inexpe- 
dient. 

It will thus be seen that the Council, whose proceedings are 
published in this volume, is the fourth General Synod or Coun- 
cil in the history of the American Congregational Churches. 



Debates and Proceedings, 



PRELIMINART PROCEEDINGS. 



THE PROPOSAL. 

The circumstances of the country, emerging as it was from 
tlie war by whose success the existence and safety of the nation 
were to be assured, had led to a wide-spread feeling that the 
Congregational Churches of the United States ought to consult 
together upon their duties and opportunities. Suggestions to 
this effect were repeatedly made. Recognizing this feeling, 
The Convention of the Congeegational Churches op the 
North-West, — a body organized with special reference to the 
Chicago Theological Seminary, — at its Triennial Meeting held 
in April, 1864, adopted the following : — 

Whereas, By the present war, the structure of society and of eccle- 
siastical organization is being dissolved or greatly changed through a 
large section of the United States, and the shackles are being struck 
from millions of slaves ; and 

Whereas, Thus vast regions and populations are being opened to 
free thought, speech, and free missions, that have heretofore been sealed 
against them ; and 

Whereas, Ideas and emigration from the Free States are likely to 
follow the triumph of the Union cause southward; therefore be it 

Besolved, 1. That it is the duty of the Congregational churches of 
the United States to inquire what is their duty in this vast and solemn 
crisis, such as comes only once in ages, and what new efforts, measures, 
and policies they may owe to this condition of affairs, — this new genesis 
of nations. 

Besolved, 2. That the crisis demands general consultation, co-opera- 
tion, and concert among our churches, and to these ends, requires ex- 
tensive correspondence among our ecclesiastical associations, or the 
assembling of a National Congregational Convention. 

Besolved, 3. That we believe no ecclesiastical order has a right to 
exist which has not also the right and duty of self-extension, nor will 
any such order prosper that does not recognize and assert such right 
and duty. 

1 



Z PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 

Besolved, 4. That it is due the principles of church order which we 
hold, and our convictions of their vital value and vast benefits, that we 
aim by all proper means to difiusethem; and that recognizing no restric- 
tive limit of section or race, we believe them to be the universal right 
and property of the church of Christ, and the race of man. 

Besolved, 5. That we believe it due to our principles, especially in 
this present crisis, that there be a more general and thorough indoctri- 
nation in them of our Theological Seminaries, our Ministry, and our 
Churches, and that more of general and national concert and co-opera- 
tion should, by correspondence and convention, be secured among us, — 
especially for missionary and aggressive action, — an action which shall 
bear, together with the gospel, those ideas and principles of church 
order which we believe best adapted to diflPlise with evangelical truth, 
evangelical liberty, and most beneficially to organize both church and 
society. 

The General Association of Illinois, at its session held in 
Quincy, May 27, 1864, upon consideration of the above proposal, 
adopted the following, which had been reported by Rev. J. M. 
Sturtevant, D. D., chairman of a committee to whom the sub- 
ject had been referred ; — 

Whereas, This Association adopts the sentiments and views in 
said resolutions expressed, and desires to see them carried into prac- 
tical efiect; therefore, 

Besolved, 1. That a National Convention of Congregationalists be 
invited to assemble at Springfield, Mass., or Albany, 1^. Y., on the first 
Tuesday, the 6th day of September next, or at such other time and place 
as may be agreed upon after correspondence with the brethren in other 
parts of the country. 

Besolved, 2. That a Committee of three be appointed by the Associa- 
tion to lay this proposition before other General Associations, Confer- 
ences and Conventions hereafter to meet, and to act with any Commit- 
tees which they may appoint, in fixing definitely the time and jjlace of 
meeting, and in making all other necessary arrangements for the same. 

Besolved, 3. That this Association recommend, as the basis of the 
Convention, the following, viz.: That each Orthodox Congregational 
Church in the United States, and the British Provinces of North Amer- 
ica, be invited to send as delegates their acting pastor or pastors, and 
one other member; and to provide, if necessary, for paying their ex- 
penses to and from the Convention. 

Besolved, 4. That copies of this Minute be transmitted to religious 
newspapers of our denomination, for insertion. 

The Congregational Conference of Ohio, at its session held 
in Springfield, June 10, 1864, approved of the proposal, and 
adopted also the followuig : — 



PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. • 3 

Eesolved, That the Ohio Congregational Conference, in accordance 
with the wishes of the pastors and delegates of the Cleveland churches 
represented here, tender a cordial invitation to the churches of our faith 
and order throughout the country, to meet at Cleveland, at whatever 
time may be determined by general correspondence. 

These papers were forwarded to the General Associations 
and Conferences throughout the country, and met with an 
almost unanimous approval by these bodies at their several ses- 
sions. The General Association of Indiana ratified the pro- 
posal, May 20 ; the General Association of Michigan, May 21 ; 
the General Association of Iowa, June 3 ; the Congregational 
Conference of Rhode Island, June 15 ; the General Conference 
of Maine, June 21 ; the General Association of Connecticut, 
June 23 ; the General Convention of Vermont, June 23 ; the 
General Association of Massachusetts, June 30 ; the General 
Association of New York, September 20 ; and the General Con- 
ference of Minnesota, October 14. The General Association of 
New Hampshire, August 25, put on record that it had " failed 
to appreciate the reasons for the call of such a convention, espe- 
cially in the present juncture of affairs, and respectfully decline 
further action with reference to it ; " but the united sentiment 
of the churches of that State was subsequently found to be in 
hearty co-operation with the proposal. The several bodies ap- 
pointed committees to represent them, with power to unite in 
calling the proposed convention. 

Upon the suggestion of such delegates as met at New Haven, 
in July, 1864, on the occasion of the annual commencement of 
Yale College, the Trustees of The American Congregational 
Union invited the several committees to meet in conference 
in the Broadway Tabernacle Church, in the city of New York ; 
to which end, their committee issued the following letter : — 

New York, October 1st, 1865. 

Deae, Sir : — As a Committee of the American Congregational 
Union, we invite you to attend a conference of tlie State Committees, 
appointed with reference to a Natioi^al Congregatioital Convex- 
Tioisr, to be held at the Broadway Tabernacle Church, in this city, on 
Wednesday, the 16th day of November next, at 10 A. M. 

The time and place of holding the Convention, the basis of represen- 
tation in the body, the subjects proper to be mentioned in the call as a 
guide to its deliberations, are topics that demand careful thought and 



4 PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 

mature counsel. In this view, the preliminary conference has been 
appointed at a time remote from any general ecclesiastical preoccupa- 
tion, and at a place where ready communication can be had with the 
officers of such benevolent societies as are directly interested in the 
Convention and its objects. In the present condition of the country, 
this movement is so important to the future of Congregationalism 
that we earnestly hope every member of each State committee will 
come to the conference in November, even at great personal incon- 
venience. 

"We can not doubt that the State bodies will reimburse the traveling 
expenses of their representatives, upon this momentous errand of the 
churches; and, in behalf of the Broadway Tabernacle Church, we cor- 
dially proffer you their hospitality during the session of the conference. 
Please send an immediate answer, that you may be advised in season 
where you wiU be entertained. 

Eespectfiilly yours, 

William Gr. Lambert. 

William Allen. 

Joseph P. Tho:mpson. 
P. S. — Please address, 

"Wm. G. Lambert, Chairman, <fcc., 

81 Worth Street, New York." 

The committees, tmanimously accepting the invitation, met 
at that time and place. 

THE COKTEEEKCE OF COMMITTEES. 

The various committees having assembled in the Broadway 
Tabernacle Church, New York, November 16, 1864, Rev. Jo- 
seph P. Thompson, D. D., of New York, called the conference 
to order, and made statements regarding the origin of the 
meeting. 

THE ROLL. 

It appeared that the following persons were present, either as 
members of committees, or representing churches in States 
where no general organizations exist : — 

Maii!^e — Eev. George E. Adams, d. d., Brunswick; Kev. Alfred E. 
Ives, Castine; Dea. Simon Page, Hallowell. 

New Hampshire — Eev. Nathaniel Bouton, d. d., Concord; Kev. 
Henry E. Parker, Concord; Eev. William T. Savage, FranMin. 

Vermont — J. G-. Stimson, Esq., Waterbury. 

Massachusetts — Eev. Alonzo H. Quint, New Bedford; Eev. Emer- 
son Davis, D. D., Westfield; Eev. Isaac P. Langworthy, Chelsea; Eev. 



PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 6 

Joshua W. Wellman, Newton; Eev. ]N"athaniel H. Eggleston, Stock- 
bridge. 

Ehode Island — Eev. Constantine Blodgett,D.D., Pawtucket; Eev. 
Alexander H. Clapp, Providence. 

Connecticut — Eev. Leonard Bacon, d. d., New Haven; Eev. Wil- 
liam T. Eustis, Jr., New Haven; Eev. Joel Hawes, D. d., Hartford; 
Eev. John P. Gulliver, Norwich. 

New York — Eev. Eay Palmer, d. d., Albany; Eev. William I. 
Budington, D. D., Brooklyn; Eev. Joseph P. Thompson, d. d.. New York; 
Eev. Jeremiah Butler, Fairport; Eev. L. Smith Hobart, Syracuse. 

New Jersey — Eev. William B. Brown, Newark. 

Ohio — Eev. Israel W. Andrews, d. d.. Marietta; Eev. James A. 
Thome, Cleveland; Douglas Putnam, Esq., Harmar. 

Michigan — Eev. Philo E. Hurd, Eomeo; Eev. Serene W. Streeter, 
Union City; Eev. James S. Hoyt, Port Huron. 

Illinois — Eev. Julian M. Sturtevant, d. d., Jacksonville; Eev. Fla- 
vel Bascom, Princeton; Charles G. Hammond, Esq., Chicago. 

Wisconsin — Eev. W. DeLoss Love, Milwaukee; Dea. Edward M. 
Danforth, Oconomowoc; George E. Sickles, Esq., Waukesha. 

Missouri — J. B. Turner, Esq., St. Louis. 

Minnesota — Eev. William E. Stevens, Eochester. 

Pennsylvania — Eev. Burdett Hart, Philadelphia; Eev. Edward 
Hawes, Philadelphia. 

Other brethren present were afterwards invited to sit as 
Honorary Members, viz. : — 

Eev. Milton Badger, d. d., New York; Eev. David B. Coe, D. d., 
New York; Eev. Daniel P. Noyes, New York; Eev. Theron Baldwin, 
D. D., New York; Eev. Absalom Peters, D. D. New York; Dea. Wil- 
liam G. Lambert, New York; William Allen, Esq., New York; Seth 
B. Hunt, Esq., New York; Eev. William Clift, New York; Eev. Henry 
G. Ludlow, Oswego, N. Y.; Eev. Michael Strieby, Newark, N.J.,; Eev. 
George Whipple, Newark, N. J.; Eev. Increase N. Tarbox, Boston, 
Mass. ; Eev. Eufus Anderson, d. d., Boston, Mass. 

ORGANIZATION. 

Eev. Isaac P. Langworthy, Eev. L. Smith Hobart, and Eev. 
Julian M. Sturtevant, D. D., were appointed a committee to 
nominate the permanent officers of the conference. 

This committee reported Rev. Leonard Bacon, d. D., for mod- 
erator ; Charles G. Hammond, Esq., for assistant moderator ; 
Rev. Philo R. Hurd for scribe ; and Rev. Nathaniel H. Eggleston 
for assistant scribe. The report was accepted and adopted. The 
conference was opened with prayer by Rev. Joel Hawes, D. D. 



6 PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 

Rev. George E. Adams, d. d., Rev. John P. Gulliver, Rev. 
Flavel Bascom, Rev. Joseph P. Thompson, D. D., and Rev. 
Julian M. Sturtevant, D. D., were appointed a business com- 
mittee. 

The following resolution was adopted : — 

JResolved, That since this body is composed of committees appointed 
for free consultation in relation to the matters referred to them, we 
deem it important that there should be a distinct understanding that 
their business is of a private nature, and that it would be considered 
wholly improper that any report of its proceedings should be made pub- 
lic, except by the direction of the body itself. 

Rev. Ray Palmer, d. d.. Rev. Isaac P. Langworthy, and Rev. 
Nathaniel H. Eggleston, were appointed a committee on Cre- 
dentials and Invitations. This committee reported the follow- 
ing resolutions, which were adopted : — 

Besolvedj 1. That this body is understood to be composed of the com- 
mittees regularly appointed by the G-eneral Associations and Confer- 
ences of the several States and Territories, with such other persons as, 
by a liberal construction, may be regarded as representing the churches 
in the States or Territories from which they came. 

Besolved, 2. That the Secretaries of the American Home Missionary 
Society, of the American Missionary Association, of the Education So- 
ciety, and of the Society for the Promotion of Collegiate and Theological 
Education at the West, be invited to sit and deliberate with this confer- 
ence. 

Rev. Absalom Peters, d. d., Rev. William Clift, Dea. William 
G. Lambert, and William Allen, Esq., being present, were in- 
vited to sit as honorary members ; and the same invitation was 
afterwards extended to Rev. Henry G. Ludlow, Rev. Rufus 
Anderson, D. D., and Seth B. Hunt, Esq. 

The Business Committee reported a docket of subjects pro- 
posed for the consideration of the conference. 



THE HOLDING OF A CONVENTION — ITS BASIS, CALL, AND 

BUSINESS. 

The question. Shall there be a National Congregational Con- 
vention ? was unanimously answered in the affirmative. 

In regard to the mode of constituting the convention, the fol- 
lowing resolution was adopted : — 



PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 7 

Besolved, That the convention be based upon a representation of Con- 
gregational churches, having a recognized fellowship in doctrine and 
order; and that a committee be appointed to prepare and report the 
terms of such representation. 

Rev. Alonzo H. Quint, Rev. Isaac P. Langworthy, and Rev. 
Julian M. Sturtevant, D. D., were appointed that committee; 
to which Rev. John P. Gulliver was afterwards added. The 
question of the time and place of holding the convention was 
also referred to this committee. 

Rev. Leonard Bacon, d. d.. Rev. Julian M. Sturtevant, d. d., 
and Rev. Alfred E. Ives, were appointed a committee to pre- 
pare a call for the convention. 

The moderator, Rev. Leonard Bacon, d. D., Rev. Julian M. 
Sturtevant, D. D., Rev. William I. Budington, D. D., Rev. Joseph 
P. Thompson, d. d., and Rev. Alonzo H. Quint, were appointed 
a committee to nominate suitable persons to present to the Na- 
tional Convention, when it shall assemble, the topics which may 
be suggested by this conference, for its consideration. 

The conference adjourned to meet on Thursday morning, at 
91 o'clock. 

Thursday Morning. 

• The conference met, according to adjournment. The meet- 
ing was opened with prayer by Rev. Constantine Blodgett, d. d. 
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. 

TOPICS. 

The conference entered upon an inquiry relative to the topics 
which it should recommend for the consideration of the Na- 
tional Convention ; and it was voted, that the call for the 
convention suggest the following subjects, to wit : — 

1. The work of evangelization, in the West and South, and 
in foreign lands. 

2. Church-building. 

3. Education for the ministry, — in colleges, theological sem- 
inaries, or otherwise ; and ministerial support. 

4. Local and parochial evangelization. 

5. The expediency of issuing a statement of Congregational 
church polity. 

6. The expediency of setting forth a declaration of the 



8 PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 

Christian faith, as held in common by the Congregational 
churches. 

7. The classification of benevolent organizations to be recom- 
mended to the patronage of the churches. 

TEEMS OF REPRESENTATION. — TIME AND PLACE OF MEETING. 

The committee on the terms of representation in the conven- 
tion, and on the time and place of its meeting, made the 
following report, which was accepted and adopted : — 

Whereas, the Congregational churches recognize two, and only 
two, fundamental principles of church polity, viz. (1,) That the local 
church is the only organized and authoritative ecclesiastical body estab- 
lished by Christ and his apostles, complete in itself for all church pur- 
poses, and with an authority which can not be delegated; and (2,) That 
all churches hold relations of fellowship one with another, under which 
it is one of their duties and privileges to meet for counsel in cases of 
general moment; therefore, 

Besolved, 1, That the National Council now proposed is wholly des- 
titute of any power or authority whatever over individuals, churches, 
or other organizations ; and, (2,) That the churches are to meet in the 
proposed council, to consider the present exigencies and opportunities 
of the kingdom of Christ. 

Besolved^ 2, That the National Council of Congregational Churches, 
now to be called, be selected by the churches, assembled, for conven- 
ience as to numbers, in local conferences; and be made up of pastors 
and delegates of churches, according to the following ratio of represen- 
tation: that the churches represented in each district, conference, or 
association of churches, select in conference one pastor and one dele- 
gate, or two delegates, for each ten churches, and for any remaining 
fraction greater than one-half of that number; each conference or 
association of churches being allowed at least one pastor and one del- 
egate. 

Besolved, 3, That in localities where no such bodies exist, represent- 
ing churches, the committees constituting this conference be requested 
to secure a representation of the churches within such districts, on the 
above basis. 

Besolved, 4, That the committee from each State be authorized and 
requested to issue, at an early time, prior to the meeting of conferences, 
circular letters, embodying the call for the council, and pointing out in 
what manner the delegates are to be selected in each State or Territory, 
in accordance with the above basis of representation, to be forwarded 
to each church for action, as well as to the several conferences ; and 
that they use their best endeavors to secure a complete representation. 

Besolved, 5, That the Council meet in the city of Boston, Mass., or in 
such other place as the committee of arrangements may designate, on 
the second Wednesday of June, 1865. 



PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 9 

The following resolutions were adopted : — 

SPECIAL SERVICE FOR DEVOTION. 

Besolved, That it be recommended to the National Comicil of Con- 
gregational churches, when assembled, to appoint, early in its session, 
a special service of devotion, for the acknowledgment of the marvel- 
ous and merciful dealings of Almighty God with the nation, in connec- 
tion with the war, and for supplicating a gracious dispensation of the 
Spirit of God upon the land, that our restored national unity may be 
consecrated in righteousness, and in the peace and joy of the Holy 
Ghost. 

COLLECTION FOR EXPENSES. 

Besolvedj That we recommend to all our churches to take up a col- 
lection, on or near the second Sabbath in May, before the meeting of 
the proposed Council, to assist in paying the traveling expenses of 
ministers coming from a considerable distance who may need such aid, 
and also to defray the incidental expenses of the Council itself; the 
avails of these collections to be distributed by a committee of the 
proposed Council; and any surplus that may remain, to be placed in 
the hands of the Congregational Union, in aid of church-building. 

COMMITTEES ON TOPICS. 

The following persons were appointed committees to present 
to the Councn the subjects suggested for its consideration : — 

On Evangelization in the West and South. 

Warren Currier, Esq., St. Louis, Mo.; Eev. Julian M. Sturtevant, 
D. D., Jacksonville, 111. ; Eev. Reuben Gaylord, Omaha, ]S'eb. Ter. ; Rev. 
Thomas E. Bliss, Memphis, Tenn.; Rev. Elavel Bascom, Princeton, 
lU. 

Parochial Evangelization. 

Rev. Daniel P. Koyes, Kew York; Rev. Henry M. Dexter, Boston, 
Mass. 

Education for the Ministry. 

Rev. Ray Palmer, d. d., Albany, New York; Rev. John P. Gul- 
liver, Norwich, Conn. ; Rev. Franklin W. Fisk, Chicago, 111. 

Ministerial Support. 

Rev. George Shepard, d. d., Bangor, Me.; Charles G. Hammond, 
Esq., Chicago, 111.; Gov. William A. Buckingham, Norwich, Conn.; 
Samuel Holmes, Esq., New York; Douglas Putnam, Esq., Marietta, 
Ohio. 

Statement of Church Polity. 

Rev. Leonard Bacon, d. d., New Haven, Conn.; Rev. Alonzo fl. 



10 PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 

Quint, Kew Bedford, Mass. ; Eev. Henry M. Storrs, d. d., Cincinnati, 
Ohio. 

Declaration of Christian Faith. 

Rev. Joseph P. Thompson, d. d., New York; Eev. George P. 
Fisher, Tale College; Eev. Edward A. Lawrence, East Windsor Hill, 
Conn. 

Systematizing Benevolent Contributions. 

Eev. Israel TV. Andrews, D. D., Marietta, Ohio; Eev. Eay Palmer, 
D. D., Albany, [N". Y.; Eev. Henry E. Parker, Concord, N. H.; William 
G. Lambert, Esq., New York. 

The following persons were appointed a Committee of Ar- 
rangements for the meeting of the Council : — 

Eev. Andrew L. Stone, D. D., Boston; Eev. Edward N. Eirk, D. D., 
Boston; Eev. George W. Blagden, D. D., Boston; Eev. Henry M. 
Dexter, Boston; Eev. Elihu P. Marvin, Medford; Eev. Eufus Ander- 
son, D. D., Eoxbuiy; Eev. Isaac P. Langworthy, Chelsea; Eev. Joshua 
W. Wellman, Newton; Charles Stoddard, Esq., Boston; Julius A. 
Palmer, Esq., Boston; Edward S. Tobey, Esq., Boston; J. Eussell 
Bradford, Esq., Eoxbury; Hemy Hill, Esq., Saxonville. 

PUBLICATION OF THE CALL. 

Rev. Daniel P. Noyes, Samuel Holmes, Esq., A. S. Barnes, 
Esq., and William Allen, Esq., were appointed a committee to 
print the call, and to supply the State committees with copies 
for distribution, and to secure a representation of the churches 
in those States and Territories which are not represented by 
committees in this body. 

REPORT ON THE CALL. 

The committee on the call for the Council made a report, 
"wliich was accepted and adopted for substance, and was recom- 
mitted for completion. 

PREACHER. 

Rev. Joseph P. Thompson, D. D., Rev. John P. Gulliver, 
Rev. Alonzo H. Quint, and Rev. Flavel Bascom, were appoint- 
ed a committee to nominate a preacher to open the Council 
with a sermon. The committee reported the name of Rev. 
Julian M. Sturtevant, D. D., of Jacksonville, HI., as principal, 
and Rev. Truman M. Post, d. d., of St. Louis, Mo., as alter- 
nate. The report was accepted and adopted. 



PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 11 



PITBLICATION OF DOINGS. 

The following resolution was passed : — 

Besolved, That the proceedings of this conference be published in 
such newspapers as may desire to publish them, and in the Congrega- 
tional Quarterly; and that the publishers of the Quarterly be requested 
to print one thousand copies extra for the use of the Council. Also, 
that all the restrictions heretofore imposed upon the publication of the 
proceedings of this conference be removed. 

TREASUEEIl. 

Henry Hill, Esq., of Saxonville, Mass., was appointed the 
treasurer of the contingent fund to be raised for the expenses 
of the delegates and of the Council. 

THANKS. 

The following resolution of thanks was unanimously adopt- 
ed : — 

Besolved, That the heartfelt thanks of this conference are tendered to 
Bev. Joseph P. Thompson, D. D., William G-. Lambert, Esq., and Wil- 
liam Allen, Esq., and to the members of the Broadway Tabernacle 
Society, for their wise arrangements and generous and anaple pro- 
vision for the accommodation and comfort of this body during its 
deliberations. 

ADJOTTRNMENT. 

The conference adjourned. Concluded with prayer by Eev. 
Ray Palmer, d. d., and the benediction by the moderator. 

Leonard Bacon, Moderator. 

Chas. G. Hammond, Assist, Moderator, 
Philo R. Hurd, Scribe. 
Nath'l H. Eggleston, Assistant Scribe. 



LETTEES OF IKYITATIOlSr. 

The committee intrusted with that duty prepared the fol- 
lowing invitation, which, after being submitted to and ap- 
proved by all the members of the preliminary conference, was 
sent to the churches by the instrumentality of the several 
State committees, who placed a sufficient number of copies in 
the hands of the scribes of the several local conferences (or 



12 PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 

other parties where no conferences exist), to reach each 
church : — 

INVITATION. 

Those Congregational churches in the United States of America 
which are in recognized fellowship and co-operation through the Gen- 
eral associations, conferences, or conventions in the several States, are 
hereby respectfully and affectionately invited to meet by their repre- 
sentatives in a i^ational Council at Boston, Massachusetts, on the four- 
teenth day of June, A. D. 1865, at 3 o'clock, p. m., in the Old South 
Meeting-House. 

This invitation is the result of a request proceeding from a represen- 
tative convention of Congregational churches in the Korth-west. It 
has been considered and approved in a meeting of committees repre- 
senting the Congregational churches and ministry associated for fel- 
lowship and co-operation in the several States ; and on us whose names 
are undersigned, has been devolved the duty of convening the Council, 
of defining the mode in which the churches may be conveniently and 
equally represented, and of proposing to the churches, and through 
them to their assembled delegates, the subjects which require at this 
time the deliberate attention and advice of such an assembly. 

Inasmuch as the Congregational churches acknowledge and hold that 
the local church is the only ecclesiastical body established by Christ and 
his apostles, — a body complete in itself, and invested with an author- 
ity under Christ which can not be delegated; and, at the same time, that 
the churches thus constituted are in relations of fellowship one with 
another, under which it is their duty and their privilege to meet for 
mutual counsel in cases of general interest and common responsibility; 
it will be universally understood that the ISTational Council now pro- 
posed is destitute of all power or authority over individuals or church- 
es, or over other organizations, and that the churches complying with 
this invitation will meet by their pastors and other messengers only for 
the purpose of considering the present crisis in the history of our coun- 
try and of the kingdom of Christ, and the responsibilities which the 
crisis imposes upon us who have inherited the polity and the faith of 
our Pilgrim Fathers. 

As it is impossible for every church to be directly represented in any 
national assembly, we propose that neighboring churches, within such 
districts as may be found convenient, meet by their pastors and dele- 
gates in particular councils or conferences for the purpose of designat- 
ing the elders and brethren who shall assemble in the National Council; 
and that the ratio of representation be two delegates (one of them a 
pastor if convenient) for every ten churches, and for every remaining 
fraction greater than half that number. 

We propose that where county or district conferences or other like 
associations of churches have been instituted, the churches of each 
conference or association meet according to their usual method, and 
elect their delegates in the ratio above mentioned, — it being under- 



PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 13 

stood that the churches of every such conference, though less than 
ten in number, may be represented by a pastor and another delegate. 

We propose that where the churches are not accustomed to meet 
statedly in organized conferences, they be invited to meet in special 
councils for this purpose. 

The subjects on which it seems to us desirable that a jCsTational Coun- 
cil of our churches should deliberate and advise at the present crisis 
are these: — 

First, The work of home evangelization devolving on our churches, 
— a work including all the efforts which they are making, or ought to 
make, for the complete Christianization of our country; particularly by 
planting churches and other institutions of Christian civilization at the 
West and at the South; by co-operating in labors for the instruction 
and elevation of the millions whose yoke of bondage God has broken; 
by helping to build houses of worship in destitute places; by 
encouraging and guiding each other in parochial plans and labors for 
Christ; and by providing the wisest and most efficient methods for 
the supply and support of an able, learned, and godly ministry. 

Secondly, The setting-forth of a simple declaration or testimony con- 
cerning the evangelic'al faith and the ecclesiastical polity, which are the 
actual basis of mutual confidence and helpfulness, and of co-operation, 
among the Congregational churches of the United States. The expe- 
diency and desirableness of such a declaration — how far it may tend to 
make the continued orthodoxy of our churches, and the apostolic 
simplicity and efficiency of their polity, more widely and clearly under- 
stood among Christians not in our connection, and how far it may tend 
to a more complete harmony and co-operation among ourselves, as well 
as to a more just conception of our system in its capability of expansion 
and of progress — will be the more wisely considered by the Council, if, 
in the meantime, the matter shall have been duly considered by the 
churches. 

Thirdly, The responsibilities of these churches in relation to spread- 
ing the gospel through the world. It can not be forgotten that the 
work of missions from the United States to the heathen in foreign 
lands, was first undertaken by the American Board of Commissioners 
for Foreign Missions, originating in the General Association of Massa- 
chusetts, appealing to the Congregational churches for their contribu- 
tions, and serving them as their agent and almoner. ISTor should we 
cease to praise God that the same institution, now venerable with the 
years of more than half a century, and illustrious with the success 
which it has gained by the favor of God's providence and the outpour- 
ings of his Spirit, is still the medium of a visible and most fraternal 
co-operation not only among our churches, but also between us and 
those Presbyterian churches which are most nearly related to our own 
in their ecclesiastical traditions and their evangelical sympathies ; and 
that, even in these times of national conffict, it has been enabled to 
carry on its work without interruption or curtailment, and has been 
gaining a stronger hold on the confidence of those who pray continually 



14 PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 

" Thy kingdom come." But if we believe that in the new era which the 
termination of the "present conflict must inaugurate, our country, re- 
lieved of the shame that has impaired its influence and the burthens 
that have impeded its progress, is to stand in new relations to the 
world, we can not but recognize the crisis as summoning our churches 
to inquire, devoutly, and with careful and extended consultation, as 
well as with mutual incitements to love and zeal, what God would 
have them do, henceforward, in the work of preaching to all nations the 
gospel of his kingdom. 

While we commend these subjects to the attention of the churches 
and of the Council which we invite them to constitute, we may also 
commend to the Council, when assembled, the fitness of appointing 
early in its sessions, a special service of praise and prayer, for the 
acknowledgment of the marvelous and the merciful dealings of God 
with the nation in connection with the war, and for supplicating a gra- 
cious dispensation of the Spirit of God upon the land, that our restored 
national unity may be consecrated in righteousness, and in the peace 
and joy of the Holy Ghost. 

In communicating to the churches this proposal for a !N"ational 
Council, we may be permitted to express our hope that they will seri- 
ously consider the occasion on which it is addressed to them, and the 
subjects on which the Council is invited to deliberate and advise. We 
ask that the proposal may be in the churches, as it has been in our 
consultations, a subject of humble and earnest prayer; and especially 
that on the second Lord's day in the month of May next, there may be 
united supplication throughout our country, and among our missiona- 
ries also in foreign lands, beseeching the God of all grace to pour out 
his Holy Spirit on the Council then so soon to meet, so that the result 
may be a great reviving and advancement of his work. 

It is also requested that on or near the day just mentioned. May 14, 
contributions be received in the churches generally to a contingent 
fund for the incidental expenses of the Council, and for relieving the 
traveling expenses of ministers who may attend as delegates from 
distant parts of the country, — it being understood that the fund thus 
created shall be distributed by a committee of the Council itself, and 
that any remainder shall be entrusted to the Congregational Union, in 
aid of the church-building charity conducted by that Society. Henry 
Hill Esq., has consented to serve as treasurer of the contingent 
fund; and it is important. that contributions, when made, be promptly 
remitted to him at ]S"o. 28 Cornhill, Boston, Mass. 

We have only to add that we have made arrangements to lay before 
the Council, when assembled, such statements of facts, and such sug- 
gestions, concerning the matters referred to it, as shall afford material 
for intelligent deliberation, and facilitate the dispatch of business. 

This invitation was agreed upon in a consultation of committees at 
the Chapel of the Broadway Tabernacle, in the city of 'New York, :>n 



PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 



15 



the seventeenth day of Kovember, A. D. 18G4. In testimony whereof 
we have hereunto subscribed our names. 



George E-. Adams, Brunswick, 
Alfred E. Ives, Castine, 
Simon Page, Hallowell^ 
Samuel Harris, Bangor, 
Woodbury Davis, Portland, 
Nathaniel Bouton, Concord, 
Henry Parker, " 

William T. Savage, Franklin, 
J. G. Stimson, Waterbury, 
Silas Aiken, Rutland, 
Jonathan Clement, Woodstock, 
Alonzo H. Quint, New Bedford, 
Emerson Davis, Westjield, 
Isaac P. Langworthy, Chelsea, 
Joshua W. Wellman, Newton, 
Nath'l H. Eggleston, Stockbridge, 
CoNSTANTiNE Blodgett, Pawtucket, 
A. Huntington Clapp, Providence, 
Leonard Bacon, New Haven, 
William T. Eustis. Jr., New Haven, 
Joel Hawes, Hartford, 
John P. Gulmver, Norwich, 
Joseph Eldridge, Norfolk, 
Ray Palmer, Albany, 
William I. Budington, Brooklyn, 
Joseph P. Thompson, New York, 
Jeremiah Butler, Fairport, 
L. Smith Hobart, Syracuse, 
William B. Beowjnt, Newark, 
Israel W. Andrews, Marietta, 
James A. Thome, Cleveland, 
Douglas Putnam, Harmar, 
Henry M. Storrs, Cincinnati, 
Philo R. Hurd, Romeo, 
Sereno W. Streeter, Union City, 
James S. Hoyt, Port Huron, 
Julian M. Sturtevant, Jacksonville, 
Flavel Bascom, Princeton, 
Charles G. Hammond, Chicago, 
Wm. DeLoss Love, Milwaukee, 
Edward M. Danforth, Oconomowoc, 
George E. Sickles, Waukesha, 
J. B. Turner, St. Louis, 

Wm. R. Stevens, Rochester, 

Burdett Hart, Philadelphia, 
Edward Hawes, " 

Asa Turner, Denmark, 
Jesse Guernsey, Dubuque, 
OzRo French, Blairstown, 



Committee of the General Conference of 
Maine. 



Committee of Hopkinton Association, 
New Hampshire. 

Committee of General Association of 
Vermont. 



Committee of the General Association of 
Massachusetts. 



Committee of the Congregational Confer- 
ence of Rhode Island. 



Committee of the General Association of 
Connecticut. 



Committee of the General Association of 
New York. 



New Jersey. 

Committee of the General Conference of 
Ohio. 



Committee of the General Association of 
Michigan. 

Committee of the General Association of 
Illinois. 

Committee of the General Convention of 
Wisconsin. 

Missouri. 

Committee of the General Association of 

Minnesota. 

Pennsylvania. 

Committee of the General Association of 
Iowa. 



In addition to the above, the following paper was signed by 
the several State committees, and forwarded to the several 
chnrches with the invitation : — 



To the Church in 

Brethren, 

"We transmit to you, for your consideration and action, a copy 
of the invitation which has been issued for a National Council of Con- 



16 PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 

gregational Churclies to be convened at Boston, on the 14th day of June 
next. 

If you approve the proposal, and desire to be represented in the Coun- 
cil, at Boston, you are hereby invited to be present by your delegates in 
a conference of churches which will be held at on the day 

of at o'clock, for the purpose of uniting in the choice of Mes- 
sengers to the National Council aforesaid. 

The other churches invited to this conference are: — 

Should it be impracticable for a delegation from you to be present, we 
earnestly hope that you will certify by letter your desire to be repre- 
sented according to the method proposed in the accompanying invita- 
tion, and will authorize the conference to act in your behalf. 
Your brethren in the Lord, 

[■ Committee. 

P. S. — We enclose with this letter, for your convenience, a form of a 
certificate accrediting your delegates to the conference. 

The form of certificate just alluded to was as follows : — 

This Certifies that the Church in desiring 

to be represented in the National Council of Congregational 
Churches which is invited to assemble at Boston,' in Massachusetts, on 
the Idth day of June, A. d. 1865, has appointed and its 

representatives to a conference of churches to be held at on the 

of for the choice of messengers to the National Council afore- 
said. 

Should the brethren above named be unable to attend, the delegates 
present in conference from other churches are hereby authorized to act 
for this church. 

In behalf of the church, 

Dated at 1865. 

Still further to secure uniformity and promote convenience, 
the following form of credentials to the Council was prepared 
and distributed, to be signed and returned by the several scribes 
of conferences : — 

This certifies that at a conference of churches held at 
on the of a. d. 1865, in which the following churches, to wit: — 

were represented by delegates elected to act as their representatives (or 
by letters authorizing the conference to act for them) in the choice 
of messengers to the National Council of Congregational 
Churches which is to meet in Boston, in Massachusetts, on the 14th day 



PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 17 

of June next, the following brethren were chosen to be the messengers 
of the churches aforenamed in said National Council, to vnt: — 



By vote of the Churches in Conference 



Scribe. 



EESPONSE PEOM BOSTON. 

The proposal to hold the session of the Council in Boston re- 
ceived a welcome answer from the churches in that city, and 
the following expression of their feelings was widely circu- 
lated : — 

Boston, Jan. 16, 1865. 

The Committee of Arrangements, appointed by the conference of 
State Committees held in DS'ew York in ISTovember last, to. make ar- 
rangements for the Council of the Congregational Churches of the 
United States, which it appointed to meet in Boston on the 14th of June 
next, have corresponded with the Congregational churches in Boston 
in regard to holding the Council in this city. They have received a 
cordial response from them all, and have adopted the following minute 
of welcome to the National Council: — 

" We regard the proposed Synod or General Council as an indispens- 
able means of meeting our present responsibilities as a branch of the 
Church of Christ. The reasons for calling such an assembly appear to 
be weighty and urgent. To us, indeed, the call appears to have come 
from the Captain of our Salvation, who is summoning his churches to 
prepare for new services and new sacrifices. 

" Averse to centralized power as is the genius of Christianity, yet it 
equally favors all that is expressive of the unity of faith and purpose in 
the Christian brotherhood. And when our Lord calls us to new forms 
of action, new enterprises, new expressions and applications of our dis- 
tinctive principles, it is most becoming in us to convene our best and 
ablest men, both ministers and lay brethren, to confer on matters of 
common interest. 

"In view of these considerations, this committee, representing the 
churches of this city, and in their behalf, invite the General Council to 
hold its sessions in Boston; cordially ofiering to it the use of our church 
edifices, and extending to its members the offer of our Christian hospi- 
tahties so long as the Council shall continue its sessions. 

" We respectfully express our desire that the opening services may 
be. held in the Old South Church, on account of its association with the 
sacred memory of the elders who ' by faith obtained a good report.' 

" And may the Lord bestow upon each member of the council a full 
measure of his Spirit, that the body may be full of light, having discern- 
ment of the Master's will, simplicity of faith, largeness of heart, a full 
sense of responsibility in these peculiar times, wisdom in deliberation, 



18 PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 

and decision and power in uttering words of counsel and appeal to 
quicken and guide the churclies. 

" May this assembling of the representatives of the entire body of 
Congregationalists in our country be attended with the richest spiritual 
blessings to all our churches and to the country. We rejoice in the 
prospect of meeting our brethren, and the master in the midst of them." 

Andrew L. Stone, Joshua W. Weldman, 

Edward K. Kirk, Charles Stoddard, 

Geo. W. Blagden, Julius A. Palmer, 

Henry M. Dexter, Edward S. Tobey, 

Elihu p. Maryin, J. KussELL Bradford, 

EuFus Anderson, Henry Hill, 
Isaac P. Lajngworthy. 



DEBATES AND PROCEEDINGS 

OF 

THE NATIONAL COUNCIL 



CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES 



AT BOSTON, JUNE, A. D. 1865. 



riEST DAY, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 3 P. M. 

The National Congregational Council, convoked by dele- 
gation from the Congregational churches of the United States, 
in response to letters-missive agreed npon in a consultation of 
committees at the chapel of the Broadway Tabernacle, in the 
city of New York, on the seventeenth day of November, a. d. 
1864, assembled in the Old South Meeting-house, in the city of 
Boston, Mass., on Wednesday, 14th June, 1865, at 3 o'clock, p. M. 

The Council consisted of delegates from the churches (with 
their respective places of residence) , as follows : — 



CALIFORNIA. 

Jacob Bacon, San Francisco. 

Eev. Milton Badger, d. d. [of N. T., 

representing Cal.] 
Luther P. Fisher, Oakland. 
Rev. Kinsley Twining, San Francisco. 

COLORADO TERRITORY. 

Eev. William Crawford, Central City. 
Samuel Cushman, Jr., Black Hawk. 

CONNECTICUT. 

Dea. Charles Adams, Litchfield. 
Rev. "Walter S. Alexander, Pomfret. 
Rev. Hiram P. Arms, D. d., Norwich 

Town. 
Albert Austin, Suffield. 
Rev. Frederick D. Avery, Columbia. 
Rev. Leonard Bacon, d. d.. New Haven. 



Hon. Walter Booth, Meriden. 

Hon. John Boyd, Winsted. 

Gov. William A. Buckingham, Nor- 
wich. 

Rev. Davis S. Brainerd, Old Lyme. 

Rev. Enoch F. Burr, Lyme. 

Dea. Philander Button, Greenwich. 

Rev. Louis E. Charpiot, Stratford. 

Rev. Amos S. Chesebrough, Glastenbury. 

Rev. Malcolm M. G. Dana, Norwich. 

Rev. Oliver S. Dean, Roxbury. 

Rev. Andrew C. Denison, Portland. 

Hon. Benjamin Douglas, Middletown. 

Rev. Samuel W. S. Dutton, d. d., New- 
Haven. 

Rev. John Edgar, Falls Village. 

Rev. Joseph Eldridge, d. d., Norfolk. 

Rev. William T. Eustis, Jr., New Haven. 

Rev. Thomas P. Field, d. d.. New Lon- 
don. 

Rev. Edwin R. Gilbert, Wallingford. 

Rev. Leverett Griggs, Bristol. 
(19) 



I' 



20 



MEMBERS. 



Rev. John P. Gulliver, Norwich. 

Hon. Henry P. Haven, 'New London. 

Dea. Willis Hemingway, Jr., Fair Haven. 

Eev. Jonathan L. Jenkins, Hartford. 

Henry M. Knight, m. d., Salisbury. 

Rev. Orpheus T. Lanpliear, Kew Haven. 

Prof. Edward A. Lawrence, D. D., East 
Windsor Hill. 

Rev. Robert C. Learned, Plymouth. 

Rev. Joel H. Linsley, d. d., Greenwich. 

Hon. Samuel Miller, New Haven. 

Rev. David Murdoch, New Milford. 

Rev. George B. Newcomb, Bloomfield. 

Rev. George A. Oviatt, Somers. 

Rev. Levi L. Paine, Farmington. 

Prof. Noah Porter, Jr., d. d., New Ha- 
ven. 

Dea. Selden M. Pratt, Center Brook. 

E. Beecher Preston, Eockville. 

Daniel C Robinson, Esq., Brooklyn. 

Dea. George W. Shelton, Birmingham. 

Ralph D. Smith, Guilford. 

Rev. George Soule, Hampton. 

Dea. John Stevens, Cromwell. 

Hon. Henry G. Taintor, Hampton. 

Dea. Chester Talcott, North Coventry. 

Rev. Jeremiah Taylor, D. D., Middle- 
town. 

Dudley R. Wheeler, North Stonington. 

Rev. Elisha Whittlesey, Waterbury. 

Eev. Samuel G. Willard, Willimantic. 

Rev. Francis Williams, Chaplin. 

Dea. John B. Woodford, Windsor. 



Prof. Joseph Haven, d. d,, Chicago. 
Levi T. Hewins, m. d., Loda. 
Eev. George B. Hubbard, Aurora. 
Rev. Elisha Jenney, Galesburg. 
Eev. Edwin N. Lewis, Ottawa. 
Dea. Nelson Mason, Sterling. 
Rev. Milo N. Miles, Geneseo. 
Eev. Lucius H. Parker, Galesburg. 
Rev. George C. Partridge, Batavia. 
Rev. William W. Patton, D. d., Chicago. 
Dea. Moses Pettengill, Peoria. 
Eev. Lemuel Pomeroy, Wethersfield. 
Rev. Samuel F. Porter, Wheaton. 
Rev. George S. F. Savage, Chicago. 
Joel K. Scarboro, Payson. 
Dea. Brainerd Smith, Normal. 
S. D. Stinson, Esq., Sandwich. 
Pres. Julian M. Sturtevant, D. D., Jack- 
sonville. 
Eev. Lathrop Taylor, Farmington. 
Eev. Henry M. T upper, Waverly. 
Prof. John C. Webster, Wheaton. 
Eev. John W. White, Morrison. 
Eev. Martin K. Whittlesey, Ottawa. 
Martin Wright, Lee Center. 
Eev. Samuel G. Wright, Dover. 



Rev. Nathaniel A. Hyde, Indianapolis. 
Rev. John L. Jenkins, Kokorao. 
Dea. A. G. Willard, Indianapolis. 



DELAWARE. 

Dea. Abner H. Bryant, Canterbury, 

ILLINOIS. 

Marshall Ayres, Griggsville. 

Prof. Samuel C. Bartlett, d. b., Chicago. 

Rev. Flavel Bascom, Princeton. 

Rev. Edward Beecher, d. d., Galesburg^. 

Eev. Frederick W. Beechei% Kankakee. 

Dea. Philo Carpenter, Chicago. 

Eev. William Carter, Pittsfield. 

Eev. N. Catlin Clark, Elgin. 

Rev. Henry M. Daniels, Winnebago. 

Rev. Andrew J. Drake, Atlanta. 

Rev. Richard C. Dunn, Toulon. 

Eev. Samuel Hopkins Emery, Quincy. 

Eev. Henry M. Goodwin, Rockford. 

Hon. Charles G. Hammond, Chicago. 



Eev. Harvey Adams, Farmington. 
Caleb B. Atkins, Glenwood. 
Eev. George Bent, Burr Oak. 
Eev. Henry L. Bullen, Durant. 
Eev. Cornelius S. Cady, Maquoketa. 
Eev. Joshua M. Chamberlain, Des Moines. 
Eev. Samuel D. Cochran, Grinnell. 
Eev. William L. Coleman, Mitchell. 
Eev. Miner W. Fairfield, Lyons. 
Dea. John G. Foote, Burlington. 
Eev. Charles H. Gates, Oskaloosa. 
Eev. James B. Gilbert, Lansing. 
Eev. Jesse Guernsey, Dubuque. 
Rev. Lemuel Jones, Bellevue. 
Rev. Daniel Lane, Eddyville. 
Eev. Orville W. Merrill, Ananiosa. 
Eev. John K. Nutting, Bradford. 
Richard J. Patterson, m. d.. Mount Pleas- 
ant. 



iJ 



MEMBERS. 



21 



Rev. Giles M. Porter, Garnavillo. 
Dea. John Porter, Cedar Falls. 
Rev. Julius A. Reed, Davenport. 
Seth Richards, Bentonsport. 
Rev. Alden B. Robbins, Muscatine. 
Rev. Isaac Russell, Bowen's Prairie. 
Rev. William Salter, b. B., Burlington. 
Rev. Samuel P. Sloan, McGregor. 
Fitch B. Stacy, Stacyville. 
Rev. Chauncy Taylor, Algona. 
Rev. Thomas Tenny, Plymouth. 
Rev. John Todd, Tabor. 
Rev. Asa Turner, Denmark. 
Alfred Woods, Iowa Falls. 



Dea. Charles C. Sawyer, Saco. 
Rev. Rufus M. Sawyer, York. 
Rev. David Shepley, Yarmouth. 
Rev. William T. Sleeper, Patten. 
Charles A. Stackpole, Gorham. 
Francis K. Swan, Calais. 
Nathaniel T. Talbot, Rockport. 
Joseph J. Taylor, New Castle. 
Rev. Sewall Tenny, d. d., Ellsworth. 
Hon. William W. Thomas, Portland. 
Dea. Joseph Titcomb, Kennebunk. 
Rev. Horace Toothaker, New Sharon. 
Rev. George Leon Walker, Portland. 
Eev. Benjamin G. Willey, East Sumner. 



MARYLAND. 



Rev. Lewis Bodwell, Wyandotte. 
Rev. Richard Cordley, Lawrence. 
William Crosby, Grasshopper Falls. 
Rev. James D. Liggett, Leavenworth. 
Hon. Samuel C. Pomeroy (U. S. S.), Atch- 
ison. 
William H. Watson, Leavenworth. 



Rev. Geo. E. Adams, d. d., Brunswick. 

Rev. Uriah Balkam, Lewiston. 

Rev. Smith Baker, Jr., Veazie. 

Rev. Joseph Bartlett, Buxton. 

Dea. Jacob Blan chard, Blanchard. 

Josiah Brown, Bethel. 

Rev. Elbridge G. Carpenter, Houlton. 

Rev. Benjamin C. Chase, Foxcroft. 

Rev. Albert Cole, Cornish. 

Rev. Temple Cutler, Skowhegan. 

Rev. Edward F. Cutter, Rockland. 

Rev. John Dinsmore, Winslow. 

Dea. Elnathan F. Duren, Bangor. 

Rev. Franklin E. Fellows, Kennebunk. 

Rev. John 0. Fiske, Bath. 

Hon. Robert Goodenow, Farmington. 

Prof. Samuel Harris, d. d., Bangor. 

Rev. Josiah T. Hawes, Bridgeton Cen- 
ter. 

Rev. Alfred E. Ives, Castine. 

Rev. Seth H. Keeler, d. d., Calais. 

Charles A. Lord, Portland. 

Hon. Seth May, Auburn. 

Rev. WelHngton Newell, Brewer Vil- 
lage. 

Dea. Simon Page, Hallowell. 

Rev. Wooster Parker, Belfast. 



Rev. Edwin Johnson, Baltimore. 
Nathaniel Noyes, " 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Ebenezer Alden, m. d., Randolph. 

Rev. Ebenezer Alden, Jr., Marshfield, 

Rev. George Allen, Worcester. 

Rev. Rufus Anderson, d. d., Boston. 

John S. Andrews, m. d., Ashby. 

Rev. George N. Anthony, Marlboro'. 

Dea. Horace Armsby, Millbury. 

Rev. Rowland Ayres, Hadley. 

Rev. James M. Bacon, Essex. 

Rev. William M. Barbour, South Dan- 
vers. 

Rev. Willam Barrows, heading. 

Rev. Thomas C. Biscoe, Grafton. 

Rev. Amos Blanchard, d. d., Lowell. 

Dea. Wm. S. Bradbury, Westminster. 

Rev. Samuel G. Buckingham, Spring- 
field. 

Timothy W. Carter, Chicopee. 

Wm. C. Chapin, Lawrence. 

Hon. Linus Child, Boston. 

Hon. Henry H. Childs, Pittsfield. 

Dea. John Clary, Conway. 

Rev. Robert Crawford, d. d., Deerfield. 

Dea. Walter Crocker, West Barnstable. 

Rev. Christopher Cushing, North Brook- 
field. 

Rev. J. Jay Dana, Cummington. 

Rev. Emerson Davis, d. d., Westfield. 

Joseph A. Denny, Leicester. 

Rev. Henry M. Dexter, Boston. 

Hon. Allen W. Dodge, Hamilton. 

Rev. John Dodge, Harvard. 



22 



MEMBERS. 



Rev. Edmund Dowse, Sherbom. 

Dea. Nathaniel Eddy, East Middleboro'. 

Rev. Zsichary Eddy, D. D., Northamp- 
ton. 

Eev. Nathaniel H. Eggleston, Stock- 
bridge. 

Rev. Alfred Emerson, Fitchburg. 

Rev. Joshua Emery, Weymouth. 

Constantine C. Esty, Framingham. 

Dea. Phinehas Field, East Charlemont. 

Dea. John A. Fitch, Hopkinton. 

Allen Folger, Gardner. 

Jonathan French, Braintree. 

Rev. Nahum Gale, d. d., Lee. 

Timothy Gordon, m. d., Plymouth. 

Dea. Jabez R. Gott, Rockport. 

Rev. John "W. Harding, Longmeadow. 

Dea. Ivory H. Harlow, Middleboro'. 

Jacob Haskell, Fitchburg. 

Dea. Henry Haynes, Sturbridge. 

Dea. Wm. E. Hinsdale, Blandford. 

Moses Howe, Haverhill. 

Dea. Geo. W. Hubbard, Hatfield. 

Rev. Jacob Ide, D. D., "West Medway. 

Dea. Galen James, Medford. 

Charles A. Jessup, Westfield. 

Rev. James P. Kimball, Falmouth. 

Rev. Edward N. Kirk, d. d., Boston. 

Dea. Samuel M. Lane, Southbridge. 

Rev. Isaac P. Langworthy, Chelsea. 

Rev. Charles Lord, Buckland. 

Rev. Erastus Maltby, Taunton. 

Rev. Abijah P. Marvin, Winchendon. 

Rev. Elihu P. Marvin, Medford. 

Eev. James T. McCollom, Bradford. 

Rev. James B. Miles, Charlestown. 

Hon. Henry Morris, Springfield. 

Rev. Osborne My rick, Provincetown. 

Dea. Lorenzo S. Nash, Granby. 

Rev. Theophilus Packard, Sunderland. 

Eev. William P. Paine, d. i>., Holden. 

Prof. Edwards A. Park, d. d., Andover. 

Rev. Ariel E. P. Perkins, Ware. 

Eev. Ralph Perry, Agawam. 

Rev. John Pike, Rowley. 

Joseph G. Pollard, Wobum. 

Zebulon Pratt, North Middleboro'. 

Eev. Alonzo H, Quint, New Bedford. 

Dea. Edgar H. Reed, Taunton. 

Dea. Josiah Eeed, South Weymouth. 

Nathaniel C. Bobbins, Salem. 

Eev. Eeuben T. Robinson, Winchester. 

Rev. Ezekiel Eussell, d. d., East Ean- 
dolph. 

Rev. Lewis Sabin, d. d., Templeton. 



Marshall S. Scudder, Grantville. 

Rev. John S. Sewall, Wenham. 

Dea. John Smith, Andover. 

Pres. William A. Stearns, d. d., Amherst 

Dea. Charles Stoddard, Boston. 

Rev. Seth Sweetser, d. d., Worcester. 

Henry W. Taft, Lenox. 

Rev. Eli Thurston, Fall River. 

Dea. William Thurston, Newburyport. 

Eev. John Todd, u. d., Pittsfield. 

Eev. Edwin B. Webb, Boston. 

Eev. Joshua W. Wellman, Newton. 

Dea. Albert D. Whitmore, Housatonic. 

Eev. John Willard, Fairhaven. 

Eev. William H. Willcox, Eeading. 

Hon. Samuel Williston, Easthampton. 

Eev. Thomas Wilson, Stoughton. 

Bartholomew Wood, Newton. 

Dea. Luther Wright, Easthampton. 

MICHIGAN. 

Eev. Joshua W. Allen, Franklin. 
Dea. Sherman S. Barnard, Detroit. 
Eev. Henry Bates, Grass Lake. 
Hon. J. Webster Childs, Augusta. 
Eev. Geo. H. Cofiey, Jackson. 
Hon. Wm. I. Cornwell, Newaygo. 
Dea. Samuel F. Drury, Olivet. 
Eev. Hiram Elmer, Clinton. 
Dea. Allen Fish, Port Huron. 
Eev. Thomas F. Hicks, Alpena. 
Homer 0. Hitchcock, u. c, Kalamazoo. 
Eev. James S. Hoyt, Port Huron. 
Eev. Philo R. Hurd, Eomeo. 
Eev. Thomas Jones, Olivet. 
Eev. Adam S. Kedzie, Somerset. 
Eev. James A. !McKay, Lament. 
Eev. Henry Mills, Kalamazoo. 
Eev. John C. Myers, Saugatuck. 
George K. Newcombe, Esq., East Sagi- 
naw. 
Eev. John Patchin, Owosso. 
Eev. Herbert A. Eead, Marshall. 
Eev. Charles Spooner, Greenville. 
Eev. Alanson St. Clair, Croton. 
Eev. James F. Taylor, Chelsea. 
Hon. James B. Walker, Benzonia. 
Eev. Le Eoy Warren, Elk Rapids. 



MINNESOTA. 

Eev. Edward Brown, Zumbrota. 
Eev. David Burt, Wiuona. 



MEMBERS. 



23 



Rev. Richard Hall, St. Paul. 
Rev. Abel K. Packard, Anoka. 
Dea. Oliver Pendleton, Wabasha. 
Rev. Charles C. Salter, Minneapolis. 
Rev. Charles Seccombe, St. Anthony. 
Rev. Charles Shedd, Wasioja. 
Rev. James W. Strong, Faribault. 
Rev. Edwin S. Williams, Northfield. 



Albert E. Wellman, Cornish. 

Rev. Horace Wood, Ossipee Corner. 

Rev. John K. Young, d. d., Laconia. 



NEW JERSEY. 



Rev. John M. Holmes, Jersey City. 
Lowell Mason, Jr., Orange. 



NEW YORK. 



Warren Currier, Esq., St. Louis. 
Rev. Truman M. Post, d. d., St. Louis. 
Rev. Julian M. Sturtevant, Jr., Hanni- 
bal. 



NEBRASKA. 

Rev. Reuben Gaylord, Omaha City. 
Rev. Elisha M. Lewis, Nebraska City. 

NEW HAMPSHIRE. 

Rev. George M. Adams, Portsmouth. 
Rev. Zedekiah S. Barstow, d. d., Keene. 
Rev. Nathaniel Bouton, d. d.. Concord. 
Stephen Brown, Kensington. 
Dea. Sampson W. BuflFum, Winchester. 
Dea. Orrin Bugbee, Lake Tillage. 
Rev. Erastus B. Claggett, Lyndeboro'. 
Rev. Edward W. Clark, Claremont. 
Dea. Horace Childs, Henniker. 
Rev. Josiah G. Davis, Amherst. 
Dea. Archibald H. Dunlap, Nashua. 
Dea. Andrew A. Farnsworth, Peterboro'. 
Hon. Asa Freeman, Dover. 
Rev. William L. Gaylord, Fitzwilliam. 
Hon. Milan Harris, Harrlsville. 
Rev. Henry A. Hazen, Plymouth. 
Hon. Thomas J. Melvin, Chester. 
Dea. Abel K. Merrill, Haverhill. 
Rev. Charles E. Milliken, Littleton. 
Prof. Daniel J. Noyes, d. d., Hanover. 
Dea. Daniel H. Parker, Dunbarton. 
Rev. Henry E. Parker, Concord. 
Rev, Ebenezer G. Parsons, Derry. 
William Ramsdell, Milford. 
Rev. Moses T. Runnels, Orford. 
Rev. William T. Savage, Franklin. 
Rev. Josiah H. Steams, Epping. 
Rev. Benjamin P. Stone, d. d., Con- 
cord. 
Rev. Alvan Tobey, Durham. 
Rev. Cyrus W. Wallace, Manchester. 



Rev. Stephen A. Barnard, Willsborough. 
Rev. ELenrj'- Ward Beecher, Brooklyn. 
Henry C. Bowen, Esq., Brooklyn. 
Dea. Edson Boyd, m. d., Ashville. 
Rev. John Bradshaw, Crown Point. 
Dea. Albert G. Bristol, M. D., Rochester. 
Rev. Wm. I. Budington, d. d., Brooklyn 
Rev. Jeremiah Butler, Fairport. 
Rev. Edward D. Chapman,' Sinclearville. 
Dea. Wm. H. Childs, Niagara City. 
Rev. Oliver E. Daggett, d. d., Canan- 

daigua. 
Dea. Lorenzo D. Dana, Morrisville. 
Rev. Edward Davies, Waterville. 
Rev. Morgan L. Eastman, Lisbon. 
Rev. George L. Entler, Meredith. 
Rev. Griffith Griffiths, Utica. 
Rev. Henry M. Hazeltine, Sherman. 
Rev. L. Smith Hobart, Syracuse. 
Rev. John C. Holbrook, d. d.. Homer. 
Charles Hopkins, Norwich. 
Dea. Hiram Hulburd, Stockholm. 
Rev. Samuel Johnson, Chenango Forks. 
Rev. Seneca M. Keeler, Guilford Center. 
John M. Kinsman, North Potsdam. 
Rev. Joshua Leavitt, d. d., New York. 
Dea. Thomas Marvin, Walton. 
Rev. Samuel Miller, Eaton. 
Rev. John H. Nason, Smyrna. 
Rev. Richard Osborn, Champion. 
Rev. Ray Palmer, D. d., Albany. 
Rev. Samuel T. Richards, Spencerport. 
Rev. Thomas H. Rouse, Jamestown. 
Rev. Aaron Snow, Miller's Place. 
Daniel S. Tarr, Gloversville. 
Rev. Jos. P. Thompson, d. d., New 

York. 
Rev. Warren W. Warner, Lawrenceville. 
Rev. Moses H. Wilder, Gaines. 
Rev. Edwin E. Williams, Warsaw. 
David S. Williams, Flushing. 
Rev. Horace Winslow, Binghamton. 
Hon. Arden Woodruflf, Strykersville. 



24 



MEMBERS. 



Rev. Alex. Bartlett, Austinburg. 
Rev. Henry S. Bennett, Wakeman. 
Eev. Loren W. Brintnall, York. 
Dea. Asa Cady, East Cleveland. 
Dea. Charles Clark, Cuyahoga Falls. 
Eev. George Darling, Hudson. 
Eev. Thomas W. Davies, Youngstown. 
Prof. James H. Fairchild, Oberlin. 
Eev. Hem an Geer, Wayne. 
Dea. Abram Griswold, Gustavus. 
Eev. John C. Hart, Kent. 
Eev. Lysander Kelsey, Columbus. 
Andrew J. Knapp, Wauseon. 
Eev. Thomas E. Monroe, Mt. Yernon. 
Dea. Thomas W. Painter, Weymouth. 
Chas. W. Palmer, Esq., Cleveland. 
Hon. Francis D. Parish, Sandusky. 
Hon. Douglas Putnam, Harmar. 
Eev. Edward W. Eoot, Springfield. 
Eev. John Safford, Bellevue. 
Eev. S. Willard Segur, Tallmadge. 
Hon. Lester Taylor, Claridon. 
Eev. James A. Thome, Cleveland. 
Eev. Charles W. Torrey, Madison. 
Joseph P. Walker, M. d., Cincinnati. 
Evander S. Warner, Kelloggsville. 
Eev. Wm. Watkins, Newburgh. 
Eev. Thomas Wickes, D. D., Marietta. 
Eev. Samuel Wolcott, t>. d., Cleveland. 
Dea. Wm. W. Wright, Oberlin. 



Eev. Geo. H. Atkinson, Portland. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Eev. Davis E. Barker, Guy's Mills. 
Geo. B. Delamater, Esq., Meadville. 
Rev. Edward Hawes, Philadelphia. 
Eev. Philip Peregrine, Blossburg. 
Eev. George W. Smiley, D. B., Philadel- 
phia. 
Eev. Roderick E. Williams, Pittsburg. 

KHODE ISLAND. 

Hon. Amos C. Barstow, Providence. 
Rev. Constantino Blodgett, D. d., Paw- 
tucket. 
Rowland Hazard, Esq., Peace Dale. 
Rev. Leonard Swain, d. d., Providence. 



TENNESSEE. 

Rev. Thomas E. Bliss, Memphis. 

VERMONT. 

Hon. James D. Bell, Walden. 
Rev. Nelson Bishop, Windsor. 
Rev. Lewis 0. Brastow, St. Johnsbury. 
Rev. Ezra H. Byington, Windsor. 
Rev. Calvin B. Cady, Alburgh. 
Charles Carpenter, W. Charleston. 
Edward Conant, Randolph. 
George H. Crane, Northfield. 
Rev. Theodore M. Dwight, Putney. 
Benj. Fairchild, M. D., Milton. 
Rev. Clark E. Ferrin, Hinesburgh. 
Rev. James T. Ford, Stowe. 
Geo. F. French, Lunenburg. 
Hon. Ira Goodhue, Westminster. 
Rev. Henry M. Grout, W. Rutland. 
Rev. L. Ives Hoadley, Craftsbury. 
Rev. Azariah Hyde, Pawlet. 
Dea. Samuel James, Jr., Wey bridge. 
Rev. Isaac Jennings, Bennington. 
Dea. Freeman Keyes, Newbury. 
Hon. Wm. C. Kittredge, Fairhaven. 
Rev. Benjamin Labaree, D. D., Middle- 
bury. 
Rev. Silas MeKeen, D. d., Bradford. 
Rev. Wm. Stratton Palmer, Wells River. 
Rev. Charles C. Parker, Waterbury. 
Rev. Sidney K. B. Perkins, Glover. 
Dea. Henry W. Robinson, Johnson. 
Dea. Edward D. Selden, Brandon. 
Gov. James G. Smith, St. Albans. 
Dea. Gilbert M. Sykes, Dorset. 
Rev. Charles C. Torrej'^, Chester. 
Rev. George P. Tyler, d. d., Brattle- 

boro'. 
Josiah B. Wheelock, Coventry. 
Samuel D. Winslow, Townshend. 

WISCONSIN. 

Rev. Asa S. Allen, Black Earth. 
Rev. Charles Boynton, Watertown, 
Dea. Russell Chene}", Emerald Grove. 
Rev. Dexter Clary, Beloit. 
Dea. Orris K. Coe, Watertown. 
Rev. Joseph Collie, Delavan. 
Rev. Isaac N. Cundall, Rosendale. 
Rev. Franklin B. Doe, Appleton. 
Timothy Dwight, Esq., Beloit. 



MEMBERS. 25 

Kev. Solomon A. Dwinnell, Eeedsburg. Rev. William E. Merriman, Eipon. 

Asahel Finch, Esq., Milwaukee. Eev. Edward G. Miner, Whitewater. 

Eev. Joseph W. Healey, Milwaukee. Eev. Henry A. Miner, Menasha. 

Hon. Edward D. Holton, Milwaukee. Eev. Lucius Parker, Palmyra. 

Dea. Guerdon Judson, Raymond. Eev. Philo C. Pettibone, Beloit. 

Eev. David M. Jones, Arena. George W. Pratt, River Falls. 

W. Wallace Jones, La Crosse. Rev^. John C. Sherwin, La Crosse. 

Rev. William DeLoss Love, Milwaukee. Rev. George Spaulding, W. Eau Claire. ' 
Rev. Charles T. Melvin, Elk Grove. 



HONORARY MEMBERS. 

The following persons were subsequently made honorary 
members, most of them on account of their appointment to 
special service by the preliminary conference at New York. 
Many members of those committees are not named here, from 
the fact that they were delegates, and are on the roll proper. 

Eev. Israel W. Andrews, d.d., Marietta, 0. Dea. Samuel Holmes, New York. 

Rev. Geo. W. Blagden, d. d., Boston. Rev. Daniel P. Noyes, Boston. 

J. Russell Bradford, Esq., Boston. Dea. Julius A. Palmer, Boston. 

Hon. Samuel A. Chapin,. Nevada. Rev. Joseph E. Roy, Chicago, 111. 

Prof. Geo. P. Fisher, New Haven, Ct. Prof. George Shepard, d. d., Bangor, Me. 

Prof. Eranklin W. Eisk, Chicago, 111. Rev. Andrew L. Stone, d. d., Boston. 

Henry Hill, Esq. (Saxonville P. O.), Edward S. Tobey, Esq., Boston. 
Framingham. 

The following persons were received as delegates from 
foreign countries : — 

Congregational Union of England and Wales. — Rev. Robert Vaughan, d. d. ; Rev. 
Alexander Raleigh, d.d.; (Rev. James W. Massie, dd., ll. d., honorary.) 

Glanmorganshire Association, Wales. — Rev. John Thomas, d.d.; C. R. Jones, 
Esq. ; J. Griffith, Esq. 

North Staffordshire Congregational Union. — Rev. S. R. Asbury. 

Union of Evangelical Cliurch of France. — Rev. Theodore Monod. 

Congregational Union of Canada. — Rev. Edward Ebbs ; Rev. Henry Wilkes, 
D. D.; Rev. John Wood ; Rev. E. J. Sherrill ; Rev. Archibald DufF; Rev. D. C. 
Frink; Theodore Lymim, Esq. 

Congregational Union of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. — ^^Rev. W. H. Daniels. 

The membership of the Council, therefore, was as follows : — 

Whole number of delegates, 502 

Honorary members, . .14 

Delegates from Foreign Countries, ...... 16 

Total membership, 532 

Rev. Andrew L. Stone, d. d., of Boston, chairman of the 



26 DR. 

local committee of arrangements, called the council to order, 
and welcomed the delegates in the following address : — 



Bretheek of the Coui^ciL : I will take the liberty of calling you 
to order, and of asking your attention for a moment, before suggesting 
a temporary organization, while I report briefly on behalf of the Com- 
mittee of Arrangements, what we have done as your servants, in prepar- 
ing for your coming. 

I have been persuaded that it is not inappropriate for me oflScially to 
utter to you this first voice of public salutation. We are glad to wel- 
come to-day our fathers and brethren, the representatives of the 
churches of our faith and order through the land, to this cradle of the 
Congregational order, and of Puritan principles. We would have you 
feel that you have come Ziowie, and that all the doors and hearts of the 
old home are open to your return. We should rejoice to find you able 
to make the associations under whose shadow you are come, and in the 
midst of which you shall walk and sit for these days or these weeks of 
your abiding among us, the tender and sacred associations of a domestic 
scene, from which you once went forth, and to which you have now 
come back. 

Be at home with us, feel at home, aud take the warmth of a home 
greeting. 

And we do not forget that there are some among you who have 
crossed international lines, and others who have crossed dividing seas, 
brethren of the same language, of the same faith, and of the same re- 
moter forefathers, to partake of the fellowship, and to share in the delib- 
erations of this body. We extend to you on the shores of this New 
England the right hand of Christian brotherhood. May those interna- 
tional lines and those dividing seas between these two great nations and 
their dependencies, never be crossed by the armies and armaments of 
war, — never but as now, by the envoys and messengers of peace ! 

It seems to us well, apart from all our personal jDleasure and profit in 
the matter, that this Council should assemble in Boston, where, or in the 
immediate vicinity of which, in other days, the grand synods of our church 
order have met in grave epochs of our history; as the synod of 1637 in 
Cambridge (then ll^^ewtown), which gave its crushing deliverances con- 
cerning the heresies of Mistress Anne Hutchinson; the synod of 1648, 
which issued the Cambridge Platform, after two years of incubation; 
the synod of 1662, — 203 j^ears ago, — which sat in the first church in 
this city, gathering in March, adjourning to June, and afterwards to 
September, and determined so disastrously upon the subjects of " bap- 
tism and the consociation of churches." By these memorable prece- 
dents, this is naturally and historically the Jerusalem of our tribes, 
whither they should go up for the high festivals of their progress and 
story. 

We have thought it fitting, too, that your first assembling should be 
within the walls of this old, historic meeting-house ; kindly granted us 



I 



DR. 



27 



"by the church /ind society for this purpose. This house was built thir- 
ty-six years before the " Declaration of Independence." It is now 135 
years old. It has been closely identified with all the important civil 
changes in this city and commonwealth, and with the whole growth of 
civil liberty. Here were celebrated, through those six years pending 
the Declaration of Independence, the anniversaries of the King Street 
tragedy, in which Crispus Attucks and four others were shot by an in- 
solent royal soldiery, and year after year the voices of Otis and Warren 
and Adams made the jplace echo with their indignant patriotism. For 
many years after, the anniversary of the 4th of July was kept here by 
oration and civic ceremony. Here were the popular gatherings when 
the public mind surged into strong remonstrance against the Stamp 
Act. Here, too, in the Eevolutionary days, British officers galloped for 
their own training and exercise, and that of their war steeds, while 
royalist spectators looked down upon them from the galleries. 

Here, also, have been scenes of memorable religious interest. The 
echoes, that resounded to the voices of patriot orators, awoke also to 
the tones of Whitefield, on each of his visits to this city. ■ They gave 
their responses to the words of Thatcher and Willard and Sewall, and 
almost all the great Kew England divines of the last century. 

But I must not detain you by such reminiscences. We had thought 
it would be grateful to you to assemble here, even if you should find it 
necessary to adjourn to some place with more quiet surroundings for 
your daily sessions. We have taken the liberty to provide such a place. 
The Mount Vernon Church, in a cordial note which I shall lay upon 
your table, tender you the use of their house in Ashburton Place for 
your deliberations. 

We have remembered your coming in our domestic arrangements, 
and have provided you guest-room in the city and in our suburban 
homes. 

We have remembered you in our cities. for prayer, and have, by con- 
certed intercession, besought God to meet you, and to greet you with 
the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and to make your work here the foun- 
tain of richest spiritual blessings to our land and to our times, both, in 
these great days, calling upon us all for the utmost Christian wisdom, 
energy, and consecration. 

I repeat the suggestion which I have made, that the Council organize 
at first by the choice of temporary chairman and secretary; giving time 
for the full assembling of your body, and a more deliberate permanent 
organization. 

And suggesting only, at this point, one thing more, — that it seems to 
your Committee of Arrangements, that the opening sermon would be 
more happily listened to to-morrow morning, at 9 o'clock, than amid the 
confusion and disorder and business of this first evening, — I will take 
the liberty of nominating Charles Stoddard, of this city, a delegate, 
as I know, to the National Council, to act as your temporary moderator 
during the initial services of the Council. 



28 ARRANGEMENTS. 

The nomination was unanimously ratified. 

In accordance with the request of the temporary moderator, 
prayer was offered by Rev. Edward Beecher, d. d., of Illinois. 

The moderator then nominated Rev. Henry M. Dexter, of 
Boston, as temporary secretary, and he was unanimously ap- 
pointed. 

Deacon Julius A. Palmer, in behalf of the Committee on 
Hospitality, reported in reference to places of entertainment. 
The committee would be in attendance in the chapel of the Old 
South Church after adjournment, and on Wednesday evening 
until 7|- o'clock, to wait upon delegates ; and afterwards every 
day in the chapel of the church where the sittings would be 
held. Arrangements had been made for meetings in the Mount 
Yernon Church, where the body of the church would be re- 
served for delegates and foreign visitors. It was suggested that 
the daily sessions be held from 9 a. m. to 1 p. m., and from 3 p. 
M. to 5 p. M., two hours being allowed for dinner. It was ad- 
vised that no evening sessions be held. Mr. Palmer stated 
that some of the delegates had been provided for in adjoining 
towns, on account of the absence from the city of many families 
who would otherwise have furnished accommodations. 

On motion of Rev. Isaac P. Langworthy, of Massachusetts, it 
was — 

Voted, That the moderator appoint a committee (to be composed of 
one member from each State represented here) to nominate permanent 
officers of the Council. 

The moderator appointed that committee as follows : — 

Massachusetts — Hon. Linns Child; Maine — Eev. George E. Adams, 
D. D.; JSfew Hampshire — Rev. Benjamin P. Stone, D. D.; Vei^mont — 
Kev. Benjamin Labaree, d. d.; Bhode Island — Hon, Amos C. Barstow; 
Connecticut — Eev. Samuel W. S. Dutton, D. d.; JS^ew York — Rev. 
Joseph P. Thompson, D. D.; Neio Jersey — Rev. John M. Holmes; 
Pennsylvania — Rev. Davis R. Barker; Delaware — Abner H. Bryant, 
Esq.; Maryland — Kathaniel Noyes, Esq.; Ohio — Judge Francis D. 
Parish; Indiana — Rev. Nathaniel A. Hyde; Illinois — Hon. Charles G-. 
Hammond; Michigan — Hon. William I. Cornwell; Wisconsin — Timo- 
thy D wight, Esq.; Iowa — Dea. John Porter; Minnesota — Rev. Charles 
C. Salter; Missouri — Warren Currier, Esq.; Nebraska — Rev. Reuben 
Gaylord; Kansas — Hon. Samuel C. Pomeroy; Colorado — Samuel 
Cushman, Jr., Esq.; Oregon — Rev. George H. Atkinson; Tennessee 
—Rev. Thomas E. Bliss; California — Jacob Bacon, Esq. 



ORGANIZATION. 29 

Rev. Julian M. Sturtevant, d. d., of Illinois, moved that a 
committee be appointed to report Rules of Order. After some 
discussion, the motion was carried, and the following gentle- 
men were chosen to constitute that committee, viz. : — 

Eev. Julian M. Stnrtevant, D. d., of HL; Eev. John P. Gulliver, of 
Ct; Henry C. Bowen, Esq., of Kew York. 

On motion of Rev. William W. Patton, D. D., of 111., a com- 
mittee of five was appointed to receive the credentials of 
members, and report who are entitled to membership in this 
Council, consisting of — 

Eev. William W. Patton, d. d., of 111.; Eev. Alonzo H. Quint, of 
Mass.; Eev. Edward Beecher, D. D., of 111.; Dea. Allen Fish, of Mich.; 
Hon. Douglas Putnam, of Ohio. Eev. Mr. Quint declining to serve, 
Jacob Haskell, of Mass., was appointed instead; and on request of the 
committee, it was subsequently enlarged by the addition of Eev. Eobert 
C. Learned, of Ct., and Eev. Samuel Wolcott, t>. d., of Ohio. 

Hon. Linus Child, from the committee on Permanent Organi- 
zation, reported as follows : — 

That the j)ermanent oflScers of the Council consist of a moderator, two 
assistant moderators, and five scribes ; and that those officers be the fol- 
lowing : — 

Moderator — His Excellency Gov. William A. Buckingham, of Conn. 

Assistant Moderators — Hon. Charles G. Hammond, of 111.; Eev. Jo- 
seph P. Thompson, D. D., of Kew York. 

Scribes — Eev. Henry M. Dexter, of Mass. ; Dea. Samuel Holmes, of 
New York; Eev. Philo E. Hurd, of Michigan; Eev. Alonzo H. Quint, of 
Mass.; Caleb Atkins, of Iowa. 

Rev. Alonzo H. Quint, of Mass., declined being a candidate 
for the position of scribe ; and Rev. Martin K. Whittlesey, of 
111., was nominated in his place. 

It was — 

Yoted^ To accept and adopt the report of the committee; and the 
Council was permanently organized by the choice of this moderator, 
assistants, and scribes. 

Hon. Linus Child, of Mass., and Rev. Dr. Button, of Conn., 
conducted the moderator to the chair, when he addressed the 
Council as follows : — 



30 ORGANIZATION. 

Gentlemen of the Council: I assume the responsibilities of 
this position with some hesitation, distrusting my ability to perform them 
properly; and I rely with confidence upon your kind co-operation and 
assistance to aid me and support me in their performance. We are the 
representatives of three thousand Congregational churches of the United 
States of America, who recognize the responsibility of each member, 
his accountability to Christ, the great Head of the Church, and the im- 
portance of uniting together for the purpose of extending the interests 
of the Eedeemer's kingdom. You will be called upon, perhaps, in the 
first place, to determine whether you will put forth a declaration of 
evangelical faith and of church polity, and again whether you will adopt 
some plan for the purpose of uniting all these churches who are in one 
common faith, in measures for the purpose of extending the Eedeemer's 
kingdom, and especially for evangelizing this nation, which needs more 
than ever to be instructed in the first principles of that commandment, 
" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neigh- 
bor as thyself." [Applause.] 

The meeting is now open for the consideration of these and of any 
other questions which may come before you -for consideration. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Dutton, of Connecticut, and after 
some discussion, it was — 

Voted, That the opening sermon be delivered in the Mount Yernon 
Church, in Ashburton Place, to-morrow, at 9, A. M. 

On motion of the temporary scribe, it was — 

Voted, That, until otherwise ordered, the sessions of this Council be 
from 9, A. M. to 1, P. M., and from 3, P. M. to 5, P. M. 

An invitation to the Council to visit the General Theological 
Library was read by the secretary ; after which, on motion of 
Hon. Linus Child, of Massachusetts, it was — 

Voted, To adjourn to to-morrow morning, at 9 o'clock, to meet in the 
Mount Yernon Church, in Ashburton Place. 

A^ourned. 

SECOND DAY, THURSDAY, JUNE 15. 

The Council met in the Mount Yernon Church (Rev. Dr. 
Kirk's), Ashburton Place, at 9 o'clock, A. M., the moderator, 
Governor Buckingham, in the chair. 

PUBLIC WORSHIP. 

Eev. Dr. Yaughan, of England, read the hymn commencing. 



SERMON. 31 

" Let children hear the mighty deeds ; " 

which was sung by the congregation ; after which, Rev. Dr. 
Yaughan read the cxliv. Psalm, and the second chapter of the 
First Epistle to the Thessalonians, and offered prayer; and 
after the congregation had sung the psalm, — 

" Glorious things of thee are spoken/' — 

the sermon was preached by Rev. Julian M. Sturtevant, D. D., 
President of Illinois College. 

SEKMOIT. 

Jeremiah vi. 16. — " Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for 
the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for 
your souls." 

It would perhaps not be difficult to find circles of opinion, in which 
the selection of such words as these for the theme of discourse would be 
thought to require an apology. Indeed, judging from some of the giv- 
ings-forth of the periodical press, I deem it not improbable that there 
may be such a circle in this goodly city of Boston. There are, I fear, 
not a few persons among us who, though by no means deficient in nat- 
ural gifts or generous culture, are greatly wanting in reverence; men 
who would regard the exhortation of our text, when a^Dplied to our own 
times, with something of indignation and contempt, as though it were a 
suggestion that the enlightened present should disown her wisdom, and 
go to school to the blind and stupid past. Such men seem to have for- 
gotten that the joast is ever the parent of the present; that other men 
have labored, and we are entered into their labors ; that, whatever supe- 
riority we may have attained over those who have gone before us, we 
owe to the principles which our fathers established, to the institutions 
which they founded, and the lessons which they taught. 

But I am fairly entitled to assume that no such apology is necessary 
in addressing the representatives of the Congregational churches of the 
United States, assembled here around the old hearth-stone, and the 
cradle of our political and religious institutions ; not only from the hills 
and valleys where the 'New England fathers sleep, but from the basin of 
the lakes, the banks of the Mississippi and its branches, the glens of the 
Eocky Mountains, and the shores of the Pacific. 

Nor this alone. Prom beyond the St. Lawrence, brethren beloved 
are here; and from that beautiful island of the ocean, which is the mother 
of us all, — a revered and honored mother, who, though in these late years 
she hath chided her eldest American daughter with a little unmerited 
severity, will yet honor her ancestral bravery, and her fidelity to her 
precious inheritance of liberty. 

This audience, assembled on this spot, surely needs not be told that 
there are principles coeval with the founding of these New England 



32 SERMON. 

colonies, which sustain such a relation to our whole social and religious 
life, that we can never have any sound and healthful growth except by 
their free and natural development, — principles which sustain the same 
relation to our entire nation, however great it may become in future 
ages, which the little germ enclosed in the acorn does to the sturdiest 
monarch of the forest. 

I am sure of the hearty sympathy of this audience, in " standing in 
the ways, to ask for the old paths." Our fathers were but men. We 
claim for them no exemption from the errors and follies to which all 
this poor humanity is ever subject. But God was with them, and did 
guide their feet into paths of wisdom, which led them to the attainment 
of a condition of freedom and social order, which richly compensated 
them for all the danger and sufferings of the wilderness, and is destined 
to confer untold blessings on their descendants for ever. And it is well 
worthy our most earnest endeavor to trace out those same paths, 
through all the intricacies and sorrowful confusions of the present; and 
perfectly safe for us to walk in them. They conducted our fathers to 
prosperity and happiness in circumstances seemingly the most unpropi- 
tious and forbidding, and they will not fail to conduct us to the same. 

"We propose no servile imitation of the fathers. We will adhere to no 
principle and no custom because it was theirs. "Prove all things, hold 
fast that which is good," shall be our motto. We intend to look 
backwards, not because we think innovation a crime, but because we 
know that all true national growth is the development of first princi- 
ples; and that the principles of any nation's life are to be learned, not 
from the agitations of the passing moment, but from the study of its 
history. We think it wise to ask the fathers what is the seminal princi- 
ple of our national life, by the development of which we may attain to 
the growth and strength and beauty and productiveness of which God 
hath made us capable. 

Nor am I wrong in looking to the early history of New England for 
the seeds of our national life. The Trench De Tocqueville, not a Puri- 
tan, not a Protestant, says : — 

" The two or three main ideas which constitute the basis of the social theory of the 
United States were tirst combined in the Northern British colonies, more generally de- 
nominated the States of New England. The principles of New England spread at first 
to the neighboring States; they then passed successively to the more distant ones; and 
at length they imbued the whole confederation. They now extend their influence be- 
yond its limits over the whole American world. The civilization of New England has 
been like a beacon lit upon a hill, which, after it has diffused its warmth around, tinges 
the distant horizon with its glow." 

What, then, are the principles of social life which are indicated in the 
early history of New England ? In the foreground of the picture 
meets us the fact, that our fathers believed in their heart of hearts that 
God had revealed himself to the soul of man, and that it is the privilege 
and the duty of every man to receive and obey for himself that revela- 
tion. With clear and mighty conviction they rejected, as unsatisfactory 
and untrue, that interpretation and social expression of the divine will 



SERMON. 33 

which kings and nobles and bishops had imposed with tyrant power on 
every foot of English soil. That they might find some spot of earth on 
which — some arch of sky beneath which — they might individually and 
socially worship God according to their own understanding of his will, 
not only brave and strong men, but timid old age, and delicate woman- 
hood, and helpless infancy, dared encounter the ocean, the wilderness, 
and the savage. This is certainly the foremost fact in the history of 
New England, nay, of North America. 

Next meets us the fact, that, when they reached their desolate home 
on these ice-bound shores, they were as far removed from the govern- 
ment which should have protected their persons and their rights, as 
from the step-mother church that would impose on them her ceremo- 
nies and her superstitions. If under those stern winter skies they were 
free to worship God, they were also under a necessity of providing for 
their own protection from cold and famine, and the violence of bad 
men. 

It needs no argument to show, that, from such a history, must necessa- 
rily have been born a " Church without a bishop, and a State 'without a 
king." The family, with all its God-given authorities, sacred subordina- 
tion, and delicate dependencies, had been transported across the ocean, 
and stood unimpaired and unshaken on the shores of a new world. And 
never has it been more revered, or more honored, than by the fathers 
and mothers of New England. But all else of the religious and politi- 
cal authorities of the Old World had been left on the other side of the 
ocean. The individual man, the family tie, and the golden chain that 
binds each individual man to " the throne and monarchy of God," were 
all that remained of the organic forces of society. These men are social 
beings, and therefore they will reconstruct religious and political soci- 
ety. But they will construct both only for the protection of individuals 
and families, in the enjoyment of their God-given rights, and to aid 
them in performing their divinely-appointed duties and achieving their 
allotted destiny. The recognition of the rights, the duties of individual 
human beings, as the direct subjects of the government of God, will, 
lyrrsT be the germinant principle of all social arrangements. The prin- 
ciple will become recognized and crowned and enthroned, that every 
individual has rights which God gave him when he made him in his own 
image, and owes an allegiance to the Supreme Kuler which is superior 
to all human enactments, and which rights and duties no earthly power 
can over-ride in the smallest degree, without incurring the righteous 
displeasure of God. If, from these feeble beginnings, a nation shall grow 
up, which shall stretch from ocean to ocean, and cover a continent with 
the emblems of its power, that nation must rest on this simple principle, 
as its mountains rest on their foundations of everlasting granite; and if 
at any point in its future history, in the pride of its prosperity and pow- 
er, it shall violate this sacred principle, an earthquake will shake its 
strongest structures, and volcanic fires will burst up from beneath its 
foundations, and, like Sodom of old, it will be consumed with a storm 



34 SEEMON. 

of fire and brimstone, unless it repents in sackcloth and ashes, and puts 
away the national iniquity. 

That this principle must be seminal to our national life, no thoughtful 
man surely will deny; and in searching for the true pathway of our prog- 
ress, we are only to seek for the just and rational development of it. Is it 
not, then, equally obvious, that, in constructing society on this principle, 
the largest amount of liberty will be reserved to the individual which is 
consistent with provision for his social wants ; and that, in all social 
arrangements, local provisions will be preferred to the provincial, the 
national, or the imperial, except in cases where the latter are found to 
be essential to the general welfare? The individual will not commit to 
a society what he can better take care of as an individual; and local 
communities will not commit to general societies what they can better 
understand and better provide for than any more general society can do 
it for them. Individuals will enjoy the largest liberty, local communi- 
ties will surrender the smallest portion of their independence, consistent 
with the general good; and imperial power will only be permitted to 
meddle with those interests in which all the millions of a great nation 
are alike concerned. I need not argue before this audience to show, 
that as this results directly and necessarily from our national history, 
so it is a true enunciation of the characteristic principle of American 
institutions as they exist in fact; and that the more perfectly this prin- 
ciple is carried out, the more harmonious and beneficent is the working 
of our social machinery. 

What, then, is the development of this principle in the direction of relig- 
ion? I need not prove that earnest faith in the gospel must and always 
will have a social development. It follows inevitably from the nature 
of the religion, and the social afiections to which it is largely addressed. 
Persons living in each other's neighborhood, reading the Bible in the 
same mother tongue, and believing with the heart its revelations of God 
and Christ, and redemption and forgiveness, and the life everlasting, 
will find themselves drawn into social relations by irresistible attrac- 
tions. They will organize themselves into a religious society for mu- 
tual sympathy, edification, instruction, and co-operation, as naturally 
and necessarily as the loving pair unite in marriage bonds, or as beings 
possessed of human nature unite in civil society. 

And, consistently with the conditions which the Pilgrim Fathers 
brought with them to the shores of Kew England, consistently with the 
fundamental princijDles of our social life, they will organize those socie- 
ties, independent '^ of all dictation or control in discipline, worship, and 
doctrine, except that of the one divine Head of the Church of God. Had 
not our fathers accepted a home in this great and terrible wilderness, that 
they might enjoy the doctrine, the discipline, the worship, which they 

1 The author of this discourse is quite well aware that the Congregationalism of our 
fathers recognizes two principles as fundamental, — the self-governmenk and the fellow- 
ship of the churches: and if, in advocating the former as against ecclesiastical centraliza- 
tion, he has given it chief prominence in this discourse, it is not because he does not hold» 
or undervalues, the latter. 



SERMON. 35 

approved ? And should they now construct any authority of bishop 
or council or presbytery, empowered to interfere with their enjoyment 
of this dear-bought privilege ? And why should any society of Chris- 
tian men and women, associated for these religious purposes, subject 
themselves to any such control of human power and invention ? They 
want religious teaching ; are they not competent to select their own re- 
ligious teachers, in the fear of the Lord ? They want to exclude from 
their society the irreligious, the unbelieving, the scandalous, the pro- 
fane ; are they not better qualified to estimate the character of the men 
and women among whom they live than any distant church authority ? 
They want a doctrine and a worship conformed to the divine word; 
must they not themselves prove all things, and hold fast that which is 
good ? Can they delegate the judgment of these matters to other falli- 
ble men like themselves ? Does not their individual allegiance to God 
imply their individual right to try the teaching they hear, and the wor- 
ship in which they engage, by the standard of God's revealed will, and 
themselves to judge what is right ? What bishop, council, presbytery, 
synod, can decide for them ? 

While thus claiming that the doctrine of the independency of the 
local church was a most natural result of the circumstances and the 
religious convictions of the fathers of ISTew England, I do not forget the 
fact, that the Pilgrims of Plymouth had been instructed in the princi- 
ples of Congregational independency by that truly great and good man, 
John Eobinson, before they left the mother country, and during their 
residence in Holland, and were therefore rooted and grounded in them 
before they embarked for America. Kor do I forget the still more 
weighty fact, that Eobinson himself was but the humble pupil of the 
apostles themselves ; that the churches which Paul and Peter and their 
fellow-apostles founded from Jerusalem to Kome were, by the agree- 
ing judgment of the ablest writers on ecclesiastical history, independent 
local churches; and that, whatever other men may say of the fathers, 
independency is sustained by the uniform practice of the apostles. 

Such were the churches which our fathers planted amid the primeval 
forests of IsTew England; such were the churches of Plymouth and Sa- 
lem and Boston; and as their settlements encroached farther and farther 
upon the domain of the oak, the pine, and the fir, they covered the 
territory which they reclaimed from the wilderness with a complete net- 
work of such churches. It was the function of each of these churches 
to care for the intellectual and religious culture of the entire population 
within their respective boundaries. Thus, at every step of their ad- 
vance, the Christian teacher and the schoolmaster accompanied them, 
and every child was taught the rudiments both of secular and of divine 
knowledge. This was a true development of the principle of our na- 
tional life; and we may well challenge any intelligent denial, that in 
application to such a State as Massachusetts only, and as it actually ex- 
ists in practice at the present moment, it is a grand development ; and 
that applied in its entireness to a great nation, extending from the 
Atlantic to the Pacific, it would be as sublime and glorious as it is free 



36 SERMON. 

and simple. If it would have been as quiet and tranquil as sunsMne, it 
would also have been as potent and life-giving. 

Such was the conception of the fathers of JSTew England; and that 
conception they did make an actual reality in every settlement which 
they formed. And the network of Congregational churches, with 
which they covered over much the larger portion of 'New England, pre- 
sented a completeness and symmetry of organization for the rehgious 
instruction and spiritual nurture of a free people, never attained to else- 
where in this country, and probably not even in the world. An unob- 
structed development of their principles would have covered our whole 
territory with such a chain of organizations from ocean to ocean. At 
least, on every six miles square of our inhabited territory, they would 
have planted such a society, not cared for and governed by some dis- 
tant ecclesiastical authority, but by its own living forces, and efficiently 
caring for the intellectual, moral, and spiritual necessities of the entire 
population within its limits; nor for these alone, but supplying the 
physical necessities of all the sick, the poor, and the aflSicted. 

And such a religious organization is essential to our national life and 
health. It is one of the great vital forces of all free society. There 
can be no better future, no millennium, either political or religious, with- 
out it. We do but grievously deceive ourselves if we imagine a sub- 
lime superstructure of freedom can be reared up, covering a continent, 
and enduring for ages, if this element is wanting. Some men among 
us glory in the superiority of this generation over our simple-minded 
fathers. But we are sadly fallen from the grace of such an organiza- 
tion for the religious culture of the people; and it is a grievous fall. 
Many of the stars are fallen even from the sky of Kew England, 
and no other luminaries have taken their places; and many others 
are sadly dimmed in their luster and are reeling from their orbits. 
In most of the country which lies west and south of the Hudson, we 
have abandoned the conception itself, as impracticable and impos- 
sible. An eminent divine of one of the Middle States, alike well 
known for his fervid eloquence and his burning zeal for the Chris- 
tian cause, who thought I loved New England better than I ought, 
once sent this message to me in my distant home in the West: "Tell 
Mr. S. he can not make New England in the West." Alas ! thus far 
it is true; and it is this very element of New England which we have 
been unable to transplant. But I have not ceased, and shall not cease, 
to try, till I despair of my country and the Church of God. 

It would be greatly to the purpose of the present occasion to exhibit 
an exhaustive view of the causes which have prevented the realization 
of this simple but grand conception west and south of the Hudson. 
The time, however, which can be allotted to this discourse would be 
entirely insufficient for such a presentation. But there are four of these 
causes which seem to me imperatively to demand the consideration of 
the National Council. They are, — 

1. Want of homogeneity in our population. 

2. Negro slavery. 



SERMON. 37 

3. Undue reliance on temporary, superficial, and inorganic efforts for 
home evangelization; and, 

4. Want of sufficient tenacity in adhering to our own polity. 

In naming the first of these, want of homogeneity in our popula- 
tion, I do not chiefly refer to the fact that everywhere there is a portion, 
and in some communities a very large portion, of the population, who 
are not believers in the gospel, who are either indifierent or hostile to 
that faith which is the basis of all living and permanent church organ- 
izations. However deeply we must deplore this fact, this unbehe^dug 
portion of the population is not numerous enough to throw any insu- 
perable obstacles in the way of a ubiquitous organization of the church 
on Congregational principles. It rarely or never occurs in any Ameri- 
can commimity, that, if the gospel is preached in its purity, such multi- 
tudes will not embrace it in the love of it, as to render the organization 
and sustentation of a Christian Church easy. And this remains true, 
after we have made ample allowance for those forms of semi-Christian 
belief and worship which reject that gospel which we have received. 
That gospel which consists in repentance toward God, and faith in our 
Lord Jesus Christ, will still find adherents, who will be both able and 
willing to sustain an organized chm-ch with all its ordinances. At least, 
within the circle of my observation, this has rarely, if ever, failed to be 
true. Aid they might need, while struggling with the first difficulties of 
a new settlement. But when these were a little over, I have seldom or 
never known a community in which there was not enough of earnest and 
devout Christians to sustain the institutions of social religion, if they 
were united in their endeavors; or, at least, in which, if the gospel were 
for a little time faithfully preached, it would not win converts, and make 
the problem of the chm^ch easy. There are few communities. East or 
West, in which a Chiistian teacher may not preach as Paul did at Cor- 
inth, with the assurance that the Lord " has much people " there. 

But the heterogeneousness of which I speak is of another kind. Al- 
most everywhere west and south of the Hudson, the descendants of 
'New England have met a religious population, holding, in a greater or 
less degree of purity and simplicity, the same religious faith as them- 
selves, who yet are not willing to accept their conception of the Church. 
Everywhere beyond the western boundary of IsTew England, they meet 
not only the divisions which have arisen among Independents on the 
mode and subjects of baptism, but, in its almost endlessly multiplied 
modifications, the Presbyterianism of Geneva, Holland, and Scotland, 
and the various ofishoots of the modified Episcopacy of the Wesleys. 
The inevitable consequence is, a conffict of rival conceptions of the 
church, which renders impossible the construction of any such system 
of religious organization as the Congregational conception of the church 
has produced in Xew England. It is not only true that no one of these 
Christian denominations is able to construct a ubiquitous system for the 
instruction of the people in the things of God, but that their mutual 
rivalries render it impossible that such a system should exist, either by 
the efforts of any particular denomination, or of all together. This is 



38 SERMON. 

not a random assertion, but it is capable of demonstration; and if true, 
it is surely worthy of the most serious consideration, not only of the 
Congregational churches, but of all men of every denomination that 
love our country and the kingdom of God. 

In cities and large towns, all the different religious denominations 
that exist in our country may be represented by religious organizations, 
embodying each its own conception of the church; and in this way 
provision maybe made, in some sort, for the religious instruction of 
the population. But it is quite essential to the great social experiment 
which we are trying on a scale so gigantic, that our rural civilization 
should attain to a completeness never known in any other land. The 
means of intellectual, moral, and religious culture must not be shut up 
in cities : they must be carried to every square mile of our territory, and 
brought within easy reach of every human habitation. Every six miles 
square of the entire habitable surface of our country must contain such 
permanent and effective institutions for the instruction of the people, and 
the whole people, that the man who has never traveled beyond the limits 
of his own native township may yet have a noble education, and be a 
truly cultivated and civilized being, the product of all the centuries that 
are past. In order to this, I need not prove to this audience that it is 
indispensable that the Christian sanctuary shall be built there, and that 
on each successive Lord's day the assembled people shall feel the influ- 
ence of social worship, and of the clear, lucid, and earnest exhibition of 
evangelical truth. 

What I affirm is, that the heterogeneousness of our population, in the 
sense in which I have defined it, renders it impossible to effect any 
such religious organization; but that, on the contrary, vast regions and 
multitudinous populations are by it doomed to religious destitution and a 
moral desolation, like some great Sahara, with only here and there a 
blooming oasis. 

Subtracting from the sum total of our population the p'opulation of 
our cities and large towns where religious institutions can be main- 
tained in some sort, in spite of the causes of which I am speaking, the re- 
mainder of course will be our rural population; and it will not be found 
to exceed some twenty-eight to the square mile, or about one thousand 
souls to each township of six miles square. Let us then bear in mind, 
that in each of these townships will be found the usual amount of indif- 
ference to religion, and misbelief and unbelief, and that all this must be 
counted out, in estimating the capability of the township to sustain so- 
cial religion. After then subtracting from the one thousand souls that 
inhabit the township all persons of this character, the remainder can not 
be presumed to exceed six or seven hundred, of all ages, from the cradle 
to the grave, and of both sexes. If these were united, you could not 
expect of them more than that they would be able to sustain one 
church with energy and efliciency. What then can we hope for, if they 
are to be divided between Presbyterians, in all their diversities of Dutch, 
Scotch, and American origin; Wesleyan Episcopacy, in all its modifica- 
tions ; and Independency, with the divisions which have arisen respect- 



SERMON. 39 

ing the mode and subjects of baptism ? What but the impossibility of 
sustaining any religious organization whatever ? 

And yet what I have supposed is but the stern and terrible fact over 
vast districts of our territory; and the result is religious destitution and 
religious anarchy, from which we can not only discern no deliverance in 
the immediate future, but we do also clearly see, that, in the present line 
of things, deliverance is impossible ; that the evil must wax worse and 
worse with each successive generation for ever. Sects will multiply and 
unbelievers will multiply, and the house of David will wax weaker and 
weaker. "We might as well hope that the barrenness of the Arabian 
desert will be healed, while yet the clouds refuse to pour their rain 
upon it. Eeligious men of 'New England birth and education have im- 
pressed upon the very substance of their souls the conception of a relig- 
ious organization of society, which will bring the influence of a regular 
Christian sanctuary within easy reach of every dweller on the soil. 
And they know well that by such an arrangement only can the educa- 
tion of the people be provided for. And I thank God, that, in the hope 
of realizing this noble conception, they will, if need be, pour- out their 
money like water, in sustaining home missionary societies, in founding 
schools and colleges, and in educating young men for the Christian min- 
istry ; and they will give their own sons and daughters to this work in 
a spirit of as true heroism as- ever poured out life in the defence of lib- 
erty, or endured martyrdom for the truth as it is in Jesus. And I shall 
never cease to thank God that it is so. 

But we are in duty bound to look the stern facts of the case full in 
the face ; and, if we do so, we shall acknowledge and feel to our heart's 
center, that obstacles at present exist over the whole West and South, 
which render the realization of the noble conception which inspires this 
glorious Christian heroism as impossible as to cover the ice-fields of the 
polar circle with the luxuriant vegetation of the tropics. 

It is often asserted, and seldom or never contradicted, that this want 
of homogeneity of which I speak is the inevitable result of religious 
freedom, acting through the permanent laws of the human mind. If 
that is so, the prospects of our country for a high religious civilization 
are gloomy enough. But I thank God, the assertion, often as it is made, 
is made gratuitously. Nobody has, so far as I know, ever proved it; 
and to me it seems not only unproved, but most clearly untrue. The 
whole history of this country, from the landing of the Pilgrims until now, 
furnishes no proof, or ground of suspicion, that religious men, in the fuU 
enjoyment of religious liberty, would ever have invented any other 
church polity than independency. I know not that any centralized sys- 
tem of church government ever originated in this country, or any other 
country enjoying full rehgious liberty. Our Presbyterianism all sprung 
from the State churches of Geneva, Holland, and Scotland. It was orig- 
inally constructed as an ecclesiastico-political system, through which a 
State church could exert its power of control over all the religious in- 
terests of a nation. Organization did not begin with the people and 
grow up into the General Assembly, but with the General Assembly, 



40 SERMON. 

and- extended its radii of administration downwards to the chnrch ses- 
sions. If any one doubts this, I commend to his especial study the his- 
tory of the church of Scotland, and would especially recommend as a 
text-book the work of that stanch Presbyterian, Mr. Hetherington. 
Presbyterianism has greatly multiplied its sects in this country. But 
it has been only by subdivisions of itself, of which it has an unlimited 
capacity. They have all arisen from the attempt to carry out its prin- 
ciples in an atmosphere of freedom. But the system itself, freedom nev- 
er generated in any country, and there is no proof that it could. With 
no propriety can it be claimed as any necessary product of a religious 
liberty, however numerous its offshoots may be in a free atmosphere. 

There is just as little reason to believe that the Wesleyan polity could 
have originated from a condition of perfect religious liberty. Mr. Wes- 
ley's aim certainly was to organize an army of brave soldiers for Christ, 
and so to command it in the name of the Lord as to secure its efficiency. 
But the principles of organization by which that command was to be 
exercised were derived from the Episcopal hierarchy of the church of 
England, which he never ceased to love and cherish. The seminal prin- 
ciple of the system is not that of the people propagating that gospel 
which they have received, but that of the rulers converting and govern- 
ing the people in the name of the Lord. 

I am free to affirm, that to begin with a^ free, self-governing Christian 
people, and develop from it either the Wesleyan or the Presbyterian 
polity, seems to me as impossible as to create an aristocracy by the free 
votes of democrats. Give us nothing but liberty and Christianity to be- 
gin with, and if we ever have any ecclesiastical centralization, it must 
be imported from some other clime. 

As to the Papal and Episcopal systems of government, the case is still 
plainer. If we can find them taught in the inspired Word, of course we 
can account for their existence. But, as most of us are unable to see 
that the Holy Scriptures lend them any support, we can only recognize 
them as offshoots from the civil and military systems of imperial Rome 
and the middle ages, transplanted to this land of freedom, and here en- 
deavoring, with what success time must determine, to maintain them- 
selves in the midst of all the forces of universal and absolute religious 
liberty. 

The assertion, then, that the heterogeneous character of our popula- 
tion is the inevitable result of our perfect religious liberty, is without 
any foundation at all. The conflicting systems by which our population 
is divided and distracted are, for the most part, not the products of 
religious liberty, but of the church and state systems of Europe, trans- 
planted to American soil, and here trying the very interesting experi- 
ment, whether their existence and their power can be propagated in the 
midst of the absolute religious liberty of the United States. If, in the 
all- wise providence of God, they are destined to succeed in this great 
ecclesiastical experiment of the nineteenth century, then must every 
system of effort for establishing a symmetrical and efficient system for 
the religious instruction of the whole people necessarily be a failure. 



SERMON. 41 

The whole history of the church, from the great schism of the. Eastern 
and Western churches to the last disruption of American Presbyterian- 
ism, shows, with the certainty of demonstration, that centralized church 
governments, whenever they are liberated from state control, and are 
free to act out their own nature, will always indefinitely multiply rival 
church governments and sects by their own internal convulsions. They 
all exhibit the phenomenon of a government claiming and exercising the 
right to command, without the power to compel obedience. They are 
all perpetually in the condition in which our Federal Government would 
have been, if the doctrine of the democratic party at the outbreak of 
the Kebellion had prevailed, that the Federal Government has no right 
to coerce a State. "We should now have had as many nations as States. 
Every centralized church government acts under these impossible con- 
ditions, aiid consequently is liable to be divided into two rival govern- 
ments, whenever the majority or the governing power commands what 
a^^y portion of the membership are unwilling to obey. It is therefore 
true, that, as things now are, we not only have so great a multiplication 
of rival ecclesiastical powers as to render efficient religious organization 
impossible, but also the certainty of an indefinite increase of their num- 
ber in the future. 

Want of homogeneity in our population is, then, one potent cause 
which has hindered, and is hindering, such a religious organization of 
our whole country as would have resulted from the develo23ment of the 
ideas of our !N^ew England fathers. And it is an obstacle of giant mag- 
nitude with which we have still to contend. 

2. Another fatal hinderance to the realization of the great conception 
of our iSTew-England fathers has ever been negro slavery. On this point 
I need not detain you long, for the principles of the case are too familiar 
to require much illustration. Slavery degrades one half the population 
to the condition of beasts of burden, and denies them any place in society 
as independent and joersonally responsible human beings. Our concep- 
tion of the church, on the contrary, is founded on the equal brother- 
hood of the human race. It can not be supposed that the proud and 
lordly master can ever admit his slave to equality in church relations, 
and recognize his independent manhood as a Christian brother. A 
higher power may admit both to the church, and govern both ; but the 
master will never admit the slave to an equal share with himself in the 
government of the church, on principles of democratic equality. If 
churches of our polity exist in such circumstances, their membership 
must be confined either to the enslaving or to the enslaved class. Among 
the latter, in the Baptist connection, they have existed in great num- 
bers. But driven out from all the fountains of knowledge, and deprived 
day by day of the earnings of their own hands, what could these poor 
people do for the spiritual enlightenment of the communities under 
whose oppressions they and their fathers before them lived and 
groaned ? 

^NTor could the principles of our polity develop themselves with any 
better efiect in the enslaving class. The white population of the slave- 



42 SERMON. 

holding States has always been divided into two classes, which are sep- 
arated by an immense distance from each other, — the wealthy and aris- 
tocratic slave-holders, and the poor white men, reduced, both in respect 
to property and intelligence, to a position scarcely less wretched than 
that of the slave himself; and this latter much the more numerous class. 
A population thus degraded, and reduced to ignorance and barbarism, 
would furnish but poor materials out of which to construct such Con- 
gregational churches as those which the fathers planted in the wilder- 
ness of New England. Many of this class have been organized into 
Baptist churches, and much has thus been achieved for their spiritual 
benefit. But little could be hoped from them in the way of a religious 
organization to supply the moral wants of a great people. Poverty 
and ignorance have been their leading characteristics, accompanied, of 
course, by a degrading servility to the proud and selfish aristocracy that 
is above them. 

The wealthy slave-holding class, on the other hand, could not be ex- 
pected to choose a system of church government founded on the idea of 
an equal Christian brotherhood. It is impossible that such a polity as 
ours should be successfully developed, in a community thus divided by 
artificial and unjust legislation, into classes so widely removed from each 
other. When English aristocrats learn to love and cherish English Inde- 
pendency, you may expect our American slave-holding aristocrats to love 
and cherish the Congregationalism of JSTew England. In both cases, the 
Congregational polity is sure to be rejected with scorn and contempt. "We 
need, therefore, feel no surprise that our polity has no existence among 
the intelligent and wealthy classes of the South, and that the Congrega- 
tional churches which once existed in South Carolina and Georgia have 
long since been swallowed up in those organizations in which the Chris- 
tian brotherhood is less distinctly recognized. It may therefore be as- 
sumed, that, while slavery continued in the South, our polity was possi- 
ble there only among the slaves and the most degraded and ignorant of 
the white population; and that there it would be quite powerless to pro- 
vide a system of religious instruction for a great, free, and enlightened 
people. 

And it should be remarked, that this obstacle to the progress of our 
polity has been felt much beyond the limits of the slave-holding States. 
Slavery has attacked, with terrible effect, that doctrine of fraternal 
equality which the gospel teaches, not only in the slave-holding States, 
but in all parts of our country, and especially in those portions of it 
to which emigrants from the South have gone in large numbers. It has 
fearfully assailed the fundamental principle of our free institutions, 
both civil and ecclesiastical, and, if God had not come to oui* aid in the 
destruction of slavery, would ere long have subverted the republic it- 
self. And the weakening of this principle shows itself earlier and more 
strikingly in the church than in the state. Thousands, who would not 
acknowledge themselves aristocrats, would feel a decided aversion to 
joining a church which was governed by the vote of the majority, and 
in which the vote of a poor man would be worth as much as their own. 



SEEMON. 43 

And that the growth of this aristocratic spirit has been greatly fostered 
and extended by the influence of a slave-holding aristocracy on our 
society, and that tastes have thus been generated which incline strongly 
to the less democratic forms of church polity, I cannot for a moment 
doubt. He who has watched the causes which, for the last thirty years, 
have resisted the progress of our polity in the iN'orth-west, will not need 
proof of this proposition. 

3. Another obstacle which has greatly hindered our organic work is 
undue reliance on modes of effort which are inorganic, and necessarily 
temporary and superficial. 

I must tell you frankly, fathers and brethren; this has been a very 
painful subject to many of your frontier laborers during the last thirty 
years. We have seen great, and in their design truly Christian, socie- 
ties, having the ear of all our churches, and holding the very highest 
place in their regard, founding their plea for large pecuniary contribu- 
tions upon the assumption, that the founding of the church, the sustain- 
ing of an enlightened Christian ministry, the rearing-up of the perma- 
nent institutions of Chiistian learning, is too slow a process; that the 
results are too remote; that these efforts can not reach the people, and 
that, therefore, other and speedier methods must be adopted. You must 
send the colporter with his Bibles, his tracts, and Christian books,and thus 
carry the word of life to the people at their own homes. And this logic 
has been accepted, — accepted against the solemn and clearly uttered 
protest of the very men whom you have sent there to build up the insti- 
tutions of a Christian civilization on the frontier ; and not only acce^Dted, 
but most vigorously acted upon. While it has been a matter of the 
greatest difiOlculty to get a few hundred dollars to aid a feeble new con- 
gregation in building a house of worship ; while heroic home missiona- 
ries, and their still more heroic wives, have been called to endure the 
severest privations and the greatest and most distressing hinderances in 
their work; while fields the most inviting of organic missionary enterprise 
could not be entered for the want of means ; and while those colleges which 
your far-seeing liberality has founded were left so feeble and inade- 
quately provided with the needful resources as often to fill the hearts 
of those who labored in them with shame and deep despondency, — 
while all these things and more were going on before our eyes, on those 
very same fields, funds derived from the sacred treasury of Christian 
benevolence were expended by tens of thousands in the circulation of 
tracts and printed volumes, which few cared to read, and multitudes 
could not read if they would. I should not be surprised to learn, that 
for many successive years more money was annually expended in Illi- 
nois, in peddling religious books, than the entire cost of sustaining all 
the colleges which Christian liberality has founded there. 

I do not say that all this has done no good. But I do say, that, hav- 
ing been constantly for more than thirty-five years in the heart of the 
great Xorth-west, I have never had but one view of it. It ha^ always 
seemed to me very bad economy. As I have looked at these things, I 
have never doubted that the children of this world are in very deed, in 



44 SERMOX. 

their generation, wiser than the children of light. To found institutions 
as the vital organs of Christian society is our first business, and let us 
never be cheated into forgetting it. And there is no- substitute for 
them, any more than for eyes and ears and lungs in the body. Let us 
build such institutions if we do nothing else. And let us put our books 
and our tracts and our Sunday-school libraries into the hands of our 
missionaries, as their munitions of moral warfare. 

And I must ask any man, well informed and of sound judgment, what, 
beyond the permanent institutions we have founded, we have to show 
for the evangelical labors of the last thirty-five years in the North- 
west. I would ask him too, if we had, in the respects now indicated, 
used our money more wisely, these results might not have been far 
more abundant than they are; whether, if we had used the funds we 
have spent in forcing the circulation of printed books, in founding and 
building up our churches and our colleges, our churches might not have 
been far stronger and more numerous ; and whether our colleges might 
not have been far nearer than they are to the attainment of the great 
destiny intended by their founders. Per my part, I have no doubt 
of it. 

Let us learn by experience; let us put these more superficial and 
temporary agencies in their proper place, and address ourselves to our 
great organic work, and determine to do that, whatever else we neglect, 
and to trust in God that the seed we thus sow shall yield a glorious 
harvest for millions yet unborn. If we could learn this lesson, one of 
the greatest obstacles with which we contend would be overcome. 

4. The only remaining obstacle of which I shall speak is the want of 
sufficient tenacity in adhering to our principles. 

I do not mean that Congregationalists are tired of their mode of gov- 
ernment, and desirous to change it for another. This is far from being 
true. As a general rule, and in its ordinary and normal working, our 
system in a good degree satisfies the taste of an intelligent, active- 
minded people, both for tranquillity and freedom. There is movement 
enough to give consciousness of life ; freedom enough to give opportuni- 
ty for individual development; and tranquillity enough to content even 
quiet and conservative spirits. In all these important respects, the his- 
tory of the system gives abundant indications of a capability of enduring 
for ever. 

But it has been the glory of our churches, that under their influence 
men have always learned to put the gospel immeasurably higher in 
regard and honor than any mere forms and ceremonies and govern- 
ments. And may they retain that glory for ever! And yet out of this 
very characteristic has grown one of the chief obstacles in the way of 
our realizing that grand organic conception with which our fathers sub- 
dued the wilderness. 

As the men of Kew England emigrate westward, they would always, 
if left to their own tastes and wishes, organize the church after the pat- 
tern of the fathers. And the sons of Kew England have pitched their 
tents toward the setting sun in sufficient numbers, and with sufficient 



SERMON. 45 

preponderence of intellectual and moral weight, to have exerted, if they 
had adhered to their own polity, an irresistible formative influence on the 
religious institutions of our country, from the Hudson to the shores of 
the Pacific. And I do not see how an enlightened, thoughtful l!^ew- 
Englander, acquainted with what has happened and is hapjDening in our 
country, can help regretting that they did not do it. But the past is 
unalterable, and regret is useless. The reason why they did not do it is 
obvious. They held, as a sacred article of their faith, that the gospel is 
primary, and government secondary. They met other streams of emi- 
gration, not of Kew England, holding the same precious faith with 
themselves, but tenacious of quite another system of polity. Eor the 
sake of securing the co-operation of these good men in planting the 
church in the wilderness, they were induced, sometimes at a single step, 
sometimes by little and little, to surrender the polity of their fathers, 
and accept that of Calvin and Knox in its stead. They did not prefer 
the change; it cost them a struggle; but, for the sake of unity and co-op- 
eration, they thought it best. And so the fathers of New England 
taught their emigrant sons, and it came to be understood, that the dif- 
ference between the Congregationalism of John Eobinson, and the 
Presbyterianism of John Knox, was a mere difference of longitude; 
that to cross the Hudson would make a good Presbyterian of any Con- 
gregationalist. Worse than this ; when, a little more than thirty years 
ago, young men who went out from you to plant the- gospel on the 
banks of the Mississippi, began to feel a decided longing for the polity 
of the Mayflower, and to organize churches on that platform, they were 
met by their fathers and brothers here with a frown, and often treated 
by the leading men of New England as men wanting in sober sense and 
sound judgment. I am uttering the experience of more than one mau 
in this audience. That state of things has, thank God, passed away, 
never, we trust, to return. 

But the evil is not yet cured; or, if I may not assume that it is an 
evil, this obstruction to the progress of our church principles, in the 
regions which lie toward the going-down of the sun, is not yet re- 
moved. Need I say, that to this hour Presbyterianism grows more 
from Congregational roots than from its own? that multitudes of the 
most gifted men whom the New England churches rear for the Chris- 
tian ministry treat this question of polity as one involving no principle 
at all? — do not hesitate a moment to accept the highest positions in the 
Presbyterian Church, and to become its standard-bearers " and cham- 
pions for the spread of its most distinctive and denominational peculiar- 
ities, in advance of all others " ? I need not say that this same facility 
of abandoning our polity is constantly exhibited by our emigrant laity, 
as well as by our ministry. New England men, making their homes in 
the "West, will, without hesitation, tm-n their backs on Congregational 
churches that need their help, to unite themselves with Presbyterian 
churches, for no higher motive than to secure customers to their busi- 
ness, or to attain to a higher social position. 

The progress of the Congregational polity in the North-west during 



46 SERMON. 

the last twenty-five years has been truly wonderful, unsurpassed certainly 
by that of any other religious denomination. But it has all been ac- 
complished in spite of the existence of this obstacle in greater or less 
degree over all that field. It has achieved much, very much; but for 
this obstacle, it would have accomplished vastly more. Many churches 
which are now weak would have been strong, and many which have 
been absorbed by the centralization of the Presbyterian Church would 
have remained in the simpler and freer polity of the fathers. 

I can not doubt, that by this process the organic power of the emigra- 
tion from Kew England has been greatly diminished: its power to 
multiply churches where churches are needed; its power to endow and 
sustain schools and colleges; its power to train up a Christian ministry; 
its power to multiply and strengthen all the institutions of a Christian 
civilization ; its power to transplant whatever is precious in Kew Eng- 
land to the West, and the South, and the shores of the Pacific. 

It is now quite time I draw this discourse to a conclusion by a brief 
consideration of one great practical inquiry: What is, to the churches 
represented in this Council, now the line of practical wisdom and Chris- 
tian duty? 

1. We must never abandon that grand conception of a symmetrical and 
ubiquitous religious organization for the moral and spiritual care and 
culture of the whole people. To abandon this is to abandon the experi- 
ment of American liberty as a miserable failure. We can not, we can not 
succeed in this grandest social experiment of the age, except through 
the high intellectual and religious culture of the whole people. Our 
mother coimtry, England, is governed by her upper and middle classes : 
to these classes, therefore, she applies the forces of a high and noble 
culture, that they may be fit to govern, and leaves the lower classes in 
a great degree uncared for. This is, at least, consistent. We are 
governed by the people, the whole people, and therefore to the whole 
people we must apply all the forces of intellectual and moral culture, 
that all may be qualified to wield that share in the government which 
the law accords to them. Nothing but ruin can come of elevating the 
masses to the position of rulers, while we do not so teach and train 
them as to qualify them to rule well. And, in order to this end, we 
must have a ubiquitous rural civilization, purified and exalted by the 
influences of free Christian worship and instruction. 

And to conclude that a system of perfect religious freedom can not 
give us such a religious organization, that it will necessarily produce 
such a conflict of religious sects as to render it impossible for rural 
districts ever to establish the permanent institutions of religious instruc- 
tion and worship, is to admit that the experiment of religious liberty is a 
failure, and that we must go back to some church and state system, 
which can, by the compulsory power of law, divide the country into 
parishes, and maintain in every one of them the means of religious as 
well as of secular instruction. We must solve this problem hy a free 
system, or acknowledge, in the face of exultant Europe, that our Prot- 



SERMON. 47 

estantism and our voluntaryism have signally failed. It is the trial- 
question of American religious freedom, whether by it we can provide 
for the religious culture of our whole people. The Congregational 
churches must not be the first to pronounce this experiment a failure. 
God forbid 1 

2. We have a far better prospect of success through our own polity 
than through any other to which we might be induced to lend our co- 
operation. He who should adopt any form of centralized church gov- 
ernment, with the hope of effecting through it a universal religious 
organization for our country, would certainly choose an instrument very 
ill adapted to his ends. Kival governments, each claiming jurisdiction 
over the whole territory, in face of every other, may in this way be mul- 
tiplied indefinitely, and be brought into more and more intense rivalship 
with each other; and that is all we can expect from that instrument, 
however vigorously used. This is about as hopeful for securing a re- 
ligious organization for our country, as to favor State rights and no 
coercion was of perpetuating our national unity. It can only aggravate 
the evil indefinitely, and drive us farther from the end we wish to reach. 

But if we will, even now, be true to the polity of our fathers, there is 
hope of ultimately attaining to complete success. The independency of 
the local church is, as we have shown, a true development of the seminal 
principle of our national life. All centralized church government is con- 
tradictory to it. The events of the last five years have taught us, as 
with a voice from heaven, that that principle is to be developed in the 
whole social life of this great nation; and that any and all principles 
which are contradictory to it are, sooner or later, to be eradicated 
through the agitations and convulsions which they themselves occasion. 
I affirm, that the principle of centralized church government does con- 
stantly demonstrate its opposition to the foundation principles of Ameri- 
can society, by the agitation, confusion, and anarchy which it causes. In 
this conffict, I think it reasonable to believe that the principle itself will 
sooner or later be overturned and destroyed. 

This state of things can not exist always. Men will see at last that 
these evils must be remedied, or the gosj)el itself must perish, and the 
fight of the Sun of Eighteousness go out. Men will cease at length to 
make labored apologies for the ceaseless conffict of the sect system, and 
begin to look around them for some platform on which the whole church 
of God on earth can stand together, and make war on one another no 
more. And when they do begin in earnest to inquire after such a plat- 
form, they will find it in the independency of local churches, built on the 
everlasting foundations of the simple truth as it is in Jesus ; each disciple 
as an equal brother receiving every other, and putting no yoke on his 
neck which the Master hath not imposed. 

I have no wish to claim any especial glory for ^NTew England. The his- 
tory of Isew England is not above criticism, and the men of IS'ew Eng- 
land, I hope, are not yet too wise to learn. But the principles which found 
their way to these shores in the cabin of the Mayflower are evidently des- 
tined to prevail over this continent from ocean to ocean, and to give char- 



48 SERMON. 

acter to all our social systems, both in church and state. I can see no 
reason why men who hold that conception of the church, which was one 
of the most remarkable characteristics of that Pilgrim band, should 
despair of its power to overspread the continent. That the tendency of 
American society is to localize the government even of the most central- 
ized churches, is apparent to every well-informed man. Presbyterian- 
ism can not be the same in America that it is in Scotland. Neither Pres- 
byterianism nor Methodism can be the same in the presence of active and 
efficient Congregational churches, that it is in the absence of any such 
influence. In such circumstances, their central forces are always weak- 
ened, and their local and individual forces strengthened. Why, then, 
should we doubt that a force which is always active and potent, and 
springs up from the very source of our national life, will ultimately pre- 
vail? In such circimistances, can we doubt for a moment that indepen- 
dency is the fittest instrument of religious organization in this free coun- 
try? 

One of the obstacles which has hitherto effectually resisted our prog- 
ress over half our territory has been destroyed by a mighty earthquake 
from God. Babylon the great is fallen. Kegro slavery shall no longer 
resist the organization of the church on the basis of the equahty of the 
Christian brotherhood over half our country. Another of the four obsta- 
cles which I have mentioned will be entirely removed when we, and all 
the churches represented here, adhere to our principles of ecclesiastical 
freedom with a zeal corresponding to their preciousness. The rivalship 
of opposing forms of church governments is the only serious one that re- 
mains. In respect to this we may reasonably assume that there is dehv- 
erance in the not distant future. 

, " The day of freedom dawns at length, 
* The Lord's appointed day." 

"We have only to select that one of the conflicting systems in which all 
men are most likely to find harmony and fraternity, under the full-orbed 
influence of American freedom, evangehcal truth, and the Spirit of the 
Lord, and to adhere to it. For my part, I am at no loss to choose. 

3. We must teach and defend the principles of our polity. Such has 
not been our custom. Some may have done it; many have neglected it. 
We have not seldom trained our sons and the people of our charges, 
from infancy to gray hairs, without their ever once having heard one 
earnest and thorough statement of the reasons why they are, and should 
continue to be, Congregationalists. We have even inculcated upon our* 
selves and our brethren the notion, that a minister of the gospel can 
hardly be worse employed than in deifending the ecclesiastical polity to 
which, after all, he thinks it his duty to adhere. And then we are sur- 
prised and shocked that our brethren treat the matter of church poHty, 
not as a question of principle, but of mere convenience and worldly ad- 
vantage. And as things have been over three-fourths of our territory, 
there are far more motives of convenience and worldly advantage incliu- 



SERMON. 49 

ing a man to be a Presbyterian, tban a Congregationalist. There are 
hundreds in this assembly who could testify to the truth of this from 
their own experience. If there are reasons why we should adhere to 
our polity at all, the same reasons would prove that our practice in 
respect to teaching and defending our system should undergo a speedy 
and total change. 

I imagine, however, I hear an objector inquiring, What! would you 
abandon that glorious characteristic of all our past history, that the gos- 
pel alone is primary, and all questions of mere polity, by a great remove 
fi'om it, merely secondary? Bishop Butler has very truly said, "It is 
one of the peculiar weaknesses of human nature, when, upon the compar- 
ison of two things, one is found to be of greater importance than the 
other, to consider this other as of scarce any importance at all." I must 
add that it seems to me that this is pre-eminently " the peculiar weak- 
ness " of us Congregationalists. We have a pohty, the glory of which is 
that it immeasurably exalts the spiritual truths and moral precepts of 
the gospel above all questions of mere pohty; and therefore we never 
teach our people the excellence of this pohty at all, or even explain to 
them its principles, but leave them without any instruction on the sub- 
ject, to be swallowed up by other pohties, under the influence of which 
they will be very sure to acquire, and transmit to their children after 
them, an intense spirit of proselytism, which is ahke foreign to om- his- 
tory and to Christianity. Would it not be well to draw a little of the 
attention of our people to questions of pohty, to guard them against such 
a danger? 

There is, at the present time, a tacitly understood truce among the vari- 
ous denominations in respect to the open advocacy of their pecuHarities 
of faith and order, especially the latter, entered into for the sake of jDeace 
and good feehng. We are told that the minor questions which divide 
evangehcal Christians are not important enough to justify the agitation 
and the disturbance of good feeling and Christian charity, which might 
result from the open discussion of our differences. These differences are 
assumed to be important enough to justify our rending the body of 
Christ asunder for the sake of them; important enough to justify us in 
demanding for every little community in Christendom at least six church 
organizations, when one only can be supported, and thus entaihng on the 
whole Christian cause, division and weakness before its enemies, and 
religious anarchy; they are important enough to justify Christian men, 
and, still more. Christian women, in plying with unresting activity all 
the arts, all the social influences, all the motives, both religious and sec- 
ular, of the most intense proselytism, to build up each his own denom- 
ination ; but not important enough to justify us in a little honest out- 
spoken defence of what we really think to be important truth, and clear 
and fair refutation of what we think to be erroneous and injmious. 

Indeed, fathers and brethren, I have, in some sense, taken my hfe in my 
hand in dehvering such a discourse as this on the present occasion. I am 
in danger of being thought to have violated estabhshed inter-denomina- 
tional law, and thereby to have critninally disturbed the peace of those 
4 

V 



60 SERMON. ' 

high contracting ecclesiastical powers which at present assnme to divide 
Protestant Christendom among them. Nor need I hmit the statement to 
Protestant Christendom. The truce, when once fairly estabhshed, will 
necessarily embrace E-omanism itself. We have, in recognizing such a 
truce to the extent we have recognized it, erected a false standard of 
judgment, by which any Christian minister would be sure to be con- 
demned as a bigot and a bitter sectarian, who should truly represent to his 
congregation the falsehoods, the delusions, and the despotism of Popery. 
That great red dragon is to-day greatly protected from the merited and 
healthful indignation and abhorrence of a free Christian peoi3le by this 
truce among our Christian denominations. "We can not agree not to rebuke 
one another, without imposing restraint on ourselves in respect to rebuk- 
ing other and perhaps more heinous sinners. 

This truce proceeds upon the assumption that the present divided 
condition of Protestant Christians is an inevitable result of rehgious 
freedom, and destined to be perpetual, and that therefore we must divide 
up every Protestant community among the existing powers ecclesiastical 
as quietly as possible. The advocates of those centrahzed church gov- 
ernments, which, like the Presbyterian and Methodist, are not exclusive, 
generally not only accept this state of things as inevitable, but apologize 
for it as desirable and beneficial to the interests of Christ's kingdom. I 
am glad to say that I have met very few Congregationahsts who take 
this view of it. They generally deplore it as a great and intolerable evil. 
If, however, we would be truly prepared for our great work, we must go 
one step farther, and beheve that the Lord has dehverance for his people ; 
tiiat they are not perpetually to wander thus bewildered and confounded; 
that the Lord wiU at last appear, and lead his people over Jordan into 
the promised land of freedom and blessed fellowship. And, amid all the 
confusion of the present, we must seek light from God to guide us in the 
true path by which he will lead his people to this blessed consummation, 
and point out that path to all over whom we have any influence, and 
exhort them to pursue it. 

For myself, I must frankly declare, that, to me, the whole beauty and 
preciousness of the Congregational system hes in this, — that it is a 
method by which the whole chm-ch of God under heaven may stand in 
blessed moral unity, on the basis of the gospel, the whole gospel, and 
nothing but the gospel, divided and distracted by no forms or ceremonies 
or governments which man hath devised. And I think, in the midst of 
such a scene of rehgious anarchy as that in which I have hved, such a 
polity is worthy of being explained, defended, and adhered to, till God 
shall call me hence. 

4. We must make this ecclesiastical question one of principle, otherwise 
we can not be efficient laborers for the evangehzation of this continent and 
the world. If our gifted and strong young men regard the present con- 
fused and anarchical condition of rehgious society in the valley of the 
Mississippi as necessary and inevitable ; if they are taught that there is 
no question of principle at issue between the Protestant denominations, 
and that all which a pastor can do is, in the general rivalship of churches, 



SERMON. 51 

to build up his own as well as he can, by the power of his eloquence, the 
attraction of his own social character, and the social influences which he 
can gather round him, and by the excellence of his organ and his choir, 
without any appeal to the principles and convictions of the people, — I say 
if strong and vigorous-minded young men see that chui'ches are chiefly 
to be built up by such influences as these, they will feel httle at-fraction 
in the pastoral office, and seek some other profession; or, if they enter 
the ministry, a sense of these difficulties will weaken their hands, and 
sicken their hearts, and crush their spirits. And this, my brethren, is 
one of the most potent causes which is thinning the ranks and impairing 
the energies of the Christian ministry. 

Let us have done with all this. Let us bring before our mind^ the 
grand conception of a continent to be overspread with a network of 
Christian institutions. Let us, with devout earnestness, inquire what 
ecclesiastical system is the fittest instrument for achieving this great 
result; and, when we have chosen it with fall conviction, we shall wield 
it mth hearty good will ; we shall see and feel the giant obstacles that 
ojDpose us ; but we shall believe that the. truth and spirit of God are 
strong enough to overcome them. We shall not be intolerant or exclu- 
sive. "We shall meekly instruct those who oppose themselves ; but we 
shall instruct them, and not dodge them by any cunning artifices. We 
shall have principles to defend, and we shall defend them, and we shall 
put our brethren of other denominations on the defense of theirs ; and if 
the truth is with us, our cause will go up, and theirs will go down; if 
with them, theirs will go up, and ours go down. In either case, we shall 
have labored' successf ally, and the, truth will have triumphed. 

If we mean to be efficient, we must not purpose to hold our own in a 
conffict of sects, admitted to be interminable and inevitable; but in all 
things we must be the advocates of principles which ai*e true, and there- 
fore, through God, mighty, and destined to overcome and exclude all 
opposing error. And it is infinitely important that this spirit be infused 
into the Independent churches all over the world. English Indepen- 
dency is sufiering the same paralysis, only in a far higher degree. It is but 
too content to be the religion of the middle class. It is expected, if a 
family becomes rich and great, it will desert "the Chapel," and go to 
" the Church." English Independency must have done with this. It 
must recognize its principles as true for all men, and fitted to rule the 
world, and wield them with the expectation of overturning the proud 
hierarchy which has so long crushed them down, and establishing, in face 
of the aristociacy of England, the doctrine of the equal brotherhood of 
the disciples of Christ. It must demand for its sons a culture as large 
and as generous as Oxford and Cambridge give to the sons of nobility 
and the state church. It must claim to speak in the name of the Lord, 
alike to high and low, rich and poor. When this spirit fully possesses 
English Independency, bishops will hold their miters and their revenues 
by a very frail and transient tenure. Fathers and brethren, both in this 
country and in England, any polity is worthy of being advocated and 
defended thus, or it is not worthy of being adhered to at all. If it is 



52 CREDENTIALS. 

true, let it triumph and reign; if false, let it go into oblivion as soon as 
possible. 

Pinally, we must be in earnest. G-od never gave to any other people 
such a problem to be solved as that which he has given to the Christian 
people of our country, — to plant the gospel under the full-orbed sun- 
light of civil and religious freedom, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
and from the eternal snows of the Arctic to the eternal verdure of the 
Tropic. In these last few months, he has come with his own terrible 
earthquake, and shaken down and utterly destroyed the only political 
barrier which obstructed our progress. The land is now before us, and 
the sunshine of freedom is on it all. And God is calUng us, as by a 
voice speaking to us from out of the sky. Arise and build; rear up the 
Church of Christ on the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus 
Christ being the chief corner-stone, over all those hills, amid all those 
valleys, that it may teach to all the millions that shall soon dwell there, 
in your own dear mother-tongue, these wonderful works of God; that it 
may be so ubiquitous that no human being shall fail to hear its melodi- 
ous summons every Sabbath morning to the house of Christian prayer 
and praise ; that all those dark places of the land that have been cursed 
by the abominations of slavery may be purified, and filled with light, and 
covered over with a population as peaceful, as free, as enlightened, and 
as religious, as the inhabitants of the sweetest valley that nestles among 
New England hills ; in one word, to found and nurture the institutions 
of learning, freedom, and religion, for a mighty nation, very soon to sur- 
pass in population the empire of China, and in wealth and ubiquitous 
influence the empire of Britain. 

And shall we deal lukewarmly, coldly, and in a worldly spirit with the 
elements of such a problem? Shall we not, in such a cause, pour out our 
wealth like water, and give our sons and daughters to the work, as 
freely as patriots ever gave their sons to their country, and offer our own 
selves as freely as our adorable Eedeemer gave himself for us? 



The minntes of yesterday's proceedings were read and ap- 
proved. 

CREDENTIALS. 

Rev. Dr. Patton, of Illinois, from the committee on Creden- 
tials, offered a partial report. 

Dr. Patton said the documents submitted to the committee were 
very imperfect in many cases. In some instances, there was no indi- 
cation of the State to which the individuals designated as delegates, 
belonged. In many cases, there was an omission properly to fill 
out the blanks, so as to enable the committee to judge whether the 
churches had acted properly in determining the number of delegates to 
which they were entitled, according to the basis of representation. It 
was intended that every conference should not only certify that such 
and such individuals were their delegates, but that such a number of 
churches were represented, and fill in their names, that it might be put 



INVITATIONS. 53 

beyond all question that they were entitled to that number of delegates. 
That had been omitted in a large number of instances; and of course 
the committee had not been able to judge perfectly with reference to 
the matter submitted to them. Then the documents, in some instances, 
had the names of the principals and alternates; in other cases, the names 
of the principals alone. Of course, it would have been impossible to 
make out a list giving the alternates and principals, and the committee 
had not attempted to do it. In the next place, there was no indication 
as to which of the appointees were present, and which absent; and it was 
impossible to tell whether the principals were all present, or whether 
part of them were absent, and their places filled by alternates. The 
committee took it for granted that the principals were present, unless 
they were notified to the contrary. 

The committee further reported that credentials had been presented 
from foreign bodies; but, as it was not for them to settle the status which 
these delegates should hold in the body, they had simply reported their 
names. They had included in the list the delegates from Canada, 
although a literal construction of the Call, which was issued to the 
" United States," would exclude them. But, inasmuch as the commit- 
tee expected the United States to include Canada at no distant period 
[laughter], they did not deem it expedient to raise the question with 
reference to the propriety of their admission to the floor. 

The list of delegates was then read by the several members of 
the committee on credentials, opportunity being afforded for 
additions and corrections. The report was then recommitted 
to the committee, for the purpose of securing greater fullness 
and accuracy. 

INYITATIONS. 

Eev. Mr. Dexter, of Massachusetts, read the following let- 
ters of invitation : — 

Boston, June 14, 1865. 
Delegates to the !N"ational Congregational Convention are invited to 
participate, as a body, in the Temperance Festival to be held on the 
Common in this city, on Saturday, the 17th inst., at 9 o'clock, A. M. A 
place in the procession will be assigned to the Convention, on the recep- 
tion of an affirmative answer. 

For the Committee, 
(Signed,) Henry Hoyt. 



Chaklestown, June 14, 1865. 

To THE Moderator of CouNcrL: 

Dear Sir, — I beg leave, in behalf of the ancient First Church of this 
city, — the oldest of the churches of the ^ew World represented in this 
body, — to extend to the Council a most cordial invitation to hold, when- 



54 INVITATIONS." 

ever agreeable to them, their contemplated special service in honor of 
the " marvelous and merciful dealings of Almighty God with the na- 
tion," in our sanctuary. I may be permitted to say, that the location 
of our church edifice is upon Harvard Hill, conveniently near to this 
place; a spot around which cluster many patriotic and sacred associa- 
tions; where the sainted Gi-overnor Winthrop and his fellow-Christians, 
two hundred and thirty-five years ago, established the worship of God, 
and quite near to that eminence upon which, ninety years ago next Sat- 
urday, occurred the first great battle of the American Revolution. 

It afibrds me great pleasure herewith to transmit to the Council the 
enclosed communication from Hon.* Geo. W. Warren, President of the 
Bunker Hill Monument Association; and also to add, that I am requested 
by Rear Admiral Silas H. Stringham, Commandant of the ^N'avy Yard 
in this place, to convey to the members of the Council, from him, a cor- 
dial invitation to visit the Yard and the government works at such lime 
as may suit their convenience. 

Most respectfully and sincerely, 
(Signed,) James B. Miles, 

Pastor First Church, Charlestown. 



42 Court Street, June 14, 1865. 
Deo.r Sir, — Understanding that there is to be, during the present 
week, a Convention in Boston of the iN'ational Congregational Council, 
and that it is their purpose to hold, during their session, a patriotic ser- 
vice of thanksgiving for the overthrow of the rebellion, I beg leave to 
request you to extend to the Council, on behalf of the Bunker Hill Mon- 
ument Association, an invitation to visit Bunker Hill and the Monu- 
ment at such time as may suit their convenience. 

Yours most respectfully, 
(Signed,) G. Washington Warren. 

Eev. James B. Miles. 



On motion of Rev. Dr. Thompson, of New York, it was 

Voted, That the Council acknowledge the courtesy of the invitation to 
join in the Temperance celebration on the 17th inst., and express its 
sympathy in the object, but respectfully decline to participate, on ac- 
count of the pressure of its own business. 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Dexter, of Massachusetts, the other 
invitations were referred to the Business Committee to be here- 
after appointed. 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Langworthy, of Massachusetts, it was 

Voted, That a committee of five be appointed, to nominate the vari- 
ous committees of the Council. 

Adjourned. 



RULES OF ORDER. 



55 



Thursday, p. m., June 15. 

The Council met at three o'clock, the moderator in the 
chair. 

The committee on Nominations was announced as fol- 
lows : — 

Kev. Isaac P. Langworthy, Massachusetts; G-ov. James G-. Smithy 
Yermont; Eev. ;Milton Badger, d. d., California; Kev. Flavel Bascom, 
Illinois; Asahel Finch, Esq., Wisconsin. 

DISPATCH TO THE PRESIDENT. 

On motion of Mr. Bowen, of New York, it was ordered 
that a telegraphic dispatch be sent to the President of the 
United States, as follows : — 

To His Excellency, Andrew .Johnson, 

President of the United States, Washington^ D. C. 

The IJ^ational Congregational Council, now in session in this city, 
representing nearly three thousand churches, in all sections of the 
country, desire to present you their Christian salutations, to assure you 
of their profound sympathy in your great and trying labors, to promise 
you their loyal support and their prayers, and to express their solemn 
conviction that the hundreds of thousands embraced as worshipers in 
our churches will most heartily co-operate with you in extending the 
institutions of civil and religious liberty throughout the land. 

Mount Vernon Chuech, Boston, June 15, 1865. 



On motion, it was 

Voted, That the dispatch be signed by the moderator, and transmit- 
ted to the President. 



rules of order. 

Rev. Mr. Gulliver, of Connecticut, from the committee on. 
Rules of Order (in the absence of the chairman. Rev. Dr.#^ 
Sturtevant), submitted their report as follows : — 



RULES OF order. 

I. Each morning, at the time to which the Council is adjourned, the 
moderator shall open the meeting with prayer, and the scribe shall 
read the minutes of the preceding day, that any needful correction may 
be made. 



56 RULES OF ORDER. 

II. In case of an equal division of votes, the moderator shall have a 
casting vote. 

III. Whilst the moderator is putting any question or addressing the 
body, no one shall walk out of or across the house; nor in such case, or 
when a member is speaking, shall entertain private discourse, or read 
any printed book or paper; nor whilst a member is speaking shall pass 
between him aijd the chair. 

TV. When any member, in debating or otherwise, shall transgress 
the rules of the body, the moderator shall, by his own authority, or at 
the request of any member, call him to order; and if a question shall 
arise concerning his being in order, it shall be decided by an appeal to 
the body. 

Y. Every member, when he wishes to speak, shall address the mod- 
erator, who shall announce his name. When two or more rise at once, 
the moderator shall name the member who is first to speak. 

YI. No member shall speak more than twice to the merits of the 
question in debate, except by special permission of the body; nor 
more than once until every member choosing to speak shall have 
spoken. 

YII. Every motion, except for adjournment, shall be reduced to 
writing, if the moderator or any two members desire it. 

YIII. When a motion is regularly made and seconded, and has been 
stated by the moderator, it cannot be withdrawn or modified by the 
mover without the consent of the body. 

IX. No vote can be reconsidered except on the day of its passage, or 
the next succeeding, and on motion of one who voted with the majority. 

X. When a question is under debate, no motion shall be received, but 
to adjourn, to lay on the table, for the previous question, to postpone to 
a day or hour certain, to commit, to amend, to postpone indefinitely, 
which several motions shall have precedence in the order in which they 
are arranged. On a motion for adjournment, for laying on the table, 
for indefinite postponement, or for the previous question, there shall be 
no debate. 

XI. The effect of a negative of the previous question is to allow fur- 
ther debate and the issue of the subject in due order; the effect of 
adopting the previous question is to put an end to debate, and to bring 
the Council to a direct vote upon pending amendments, if any, and then 
upon the original question. 

XII. If a question under debate contains several parts, any member 
may have it divided, and the question taken on each part. 

XIII. Every committee shall consist of three members, unless ex- 
pressly ordered otherwise by the body, and shall be nominated by a 
committee appointed for the purpose. 

XIY. If the report of a committee contains nothing more than mat- 
ters of fact for information, or matters of argument for the considera- 
tion of the Council, the question is, Shall the report he accepted f and 
that question, unless superseded by a motion to reject, to recommit, to 
postpone, or to lay upon the table, shall be taken without debate. 



PRESENTATION OF FOREIGN DELEGATES. 57 

Such a report, if accepted, is placed upon the files of the Council, but 
not being an act of the Council, is not entered on the minutes. 

If the report is in the form of a vote or resolution, or of a declaration, 
expressing the judgment or testimony of the Council, the additional 
question arises, Shall the report he adopted ? and motions for amend- 
ment are in order. Such a report, if adopted, with or without amend- 
ment, is the act of the Council, and is entered on the minutes. 

If a report gives the views of the committee on the matter referred to 
them, and terminates with the form of a resolution or declaration in the 
name of the Council, the adoption of the report is the adoption only of 
the resolution or declaration; and while the report at large is placed on 
file, that part of it which has become an act of the Council is entered on 
the minutes. 

XV. If shall be the duty of the business committee to prepare a 
docket for the use of the moderator, upon which shall be entered all 
items of business which members of the Council may desire to bring 
before the body, and, except by special vote of the Council, no business 
shall be introduced which has not in this manner passed through the 
hands of the committee. 

The report was adopted, and ordered to be printed. 

PRESENTATION OF FOREIGN DELEGATES. 

Key. Dr. Blagden, of Massachusetts. I have a duty to perform, sir, 
as one of the Committee of Arrangements, who by their vote have assigned 
to me that duty; and it strikes me that the subject to be brought before 
the Council, in the fulfillment of that duty, had better be presented now, 
before the Council shall engage in any of the regular business that suc- 
ceeds the reception of the credentials of delegates. 

It is known to the Council that there are gentlemen present from for- 
eign bodies, and the Committee of Arrangements appointed me to intro- 
duce two of the brethren from the Congregational Union of England 
and Wales, in a few words. Those brethren are present, sir, and I am 
glad to hear and to know that there are others present from other bod- 
ies. The two brethren to whom I refer are the only brethren from 
abroad who were mentioned as attendants upon the Council at the time 
of the last session of the Committee of Arrangements ; and it will not 
jDreclude that attention which the Council would wish to pay to others 
if I, in the discharge of that particular duty, present only those two 
brethren at this time. 

With these few remarks, I have the honor to introduce to the Council 
Eev. Dr. Robert Yaughan and Eev. Dr. Alexander Raleigh, of England, 
delegates to this body, as I understand, from the Congregational Union 
of England and Wales. 

Hon. Mr. Hajmmond, of Illinois. I am informed that there are some 
documents which have been presented by these gentlemen, which they 
would like to have read. 



58 LETTERS FROM FOREIGN BODIES. 

Dr. Patton of Illinois, read the following letter and docu- 
ments : — 

NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE CONGREGATIONAL UNION. 

Spring Meeting held in the Congregational Church, Stoke-on- Trent j 
April 17th, 1865. Henry Pidduck, Esq., Mayor of Hanley, in the Chair, 

The following resolution was proposed by the Rev. E. McAU, of Han- 
ley, seconded by the Rev. S. Jones, of Longton, and unanimously car- 
ried: — 

" That the N'orth Staffordshire County Association of Congregational 
Churches and Pastors is happy to take the opportunity of nominating 
the Rev. S, R. Asbury, b. a., as a delegate to the National Congrega- 
tional Council, meeting at Boston on the 14th of June, 1865, and would 
thus express the earnest wish that Congregational principles may fur- 
ther advance in the United States. 

" And they would also express the hope that the churches of England 
may soon have to rejoice with their brethren in America over the re- 
moval of the curse of slavery from that continent, and the restoration of 
true peace." 

(Signed,) Henry Pidduck, Chairman. 

J. Hankiksoist, Secretary, 
And Pastor of the Congregational Churchy Leeh. 



ShepfiiIld, N. B., 1st June, 1865. 
To THE National Council of Congregational Churches, Boston. 

Dear Brethren, — Though widely separated in our fields of labor, and 
though under different forms of civil government, and among people dif- 
fering much in their social and domestic habits, yet we are members of 
the same family of the church on earth, — identified as brethren by a 
common faith and by our scriptural form of church polity. 

The Congregational Union of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick is a 
small body, numbering only twelve churches. We are spread over a 
wide territory, and no possibility exists of our coming together except 
at our annual gatherings. This diflSculty has presented an insuperable 
barrier to our appointing a delegate to represent us in your "National 
Council." The Rev. W. H. Daniels, who has labored in the city of St. 
John, N. B., for a number of years, purposes being present with you; 
and it is with the greatest pleasure, as Secretary of our Union, that I 
introduce him to your notice. 

Our Union does not meet till the 21st of next month; but if an oppor- 
tunity had existed, I am confident it would have been the cordial and 
unanimous desire of all our members and churches that our beloved 
brother Daniels should have appeared as our delegate at your Council. 

If, under these circumstances, he can not be allowed to take part in 



LETTERS FROM FOREIGN BODIES. 59 

your proceedings, I have no doubt he "will be cordially welcomed by 
you, and be at your sittings an interested hearer and spectator. 
I am dear brethren, yours in the best of bonds, 

KOBERT WiLSOK, 

Secretary of the Home Missionary Society and Congregational Union 
of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. 



FROM THE CONGREGATIONAL UNION OF ENGLAND AND WALES. 

This assembly, while uniformly cherishing the liveliest interest in the 
Congregational churches of the United States, and always desirous of 
cultivating friendly relation with those churches, is constrained to give 
a prompt and special expression of these sentiments and feelings in the 
present unparalleled crisis of American history. 

The assembly, therefore, dispensing with the formality of a regular in- 
vitation, requests the Eev. R. Yaughan, D. D., the Rev. A. Raleigh, d. d., 
and the Rev. G-eorge Smith, d. d., to proceed as delegates from this 
Union, to attend the Convention of Congregational churches, to be held 
next month in the city of Boston. 

This assembly instructs the deputation to convey its cordial greetings 
to the ministers and churches represented at the said conference, and to 
assure them of its earnest prayers for their continued welfare and grow- 
ing prosperity; its high appreciation of the great services rendered by 
them to the interests of our common Christianity, and of human pro- 
gress; its cordial acknowledgment of the anti-slavery principles held 
and advocated by those churches ; its hearty congratulations on account 
of the great work of emancipation thus far accomplished, and, it is fully 
believed, under God, completely and finally secured ; its profound sym- 
pathy with them and their fellow countrymen generally in the fearful 
losses and agonizing trials of the four years' civil war; and, especially, 
in the foul assassination of the upright, patient, arj^d noble-hearted Abra- 
ham Lincoln; its intense delight at the prospect of peace and re-union, 
without compromise on the slave question; its profound thankfulness to 
Almighty God for the spirit of moderation and clemency hitherto dis- 
played on the victorious side; its full confidence in the efforts that will 
now be made to meet the physical, intellectual, and moral necessities of 
four millions of human beings in their sudden transition from the degra- 
dation of slavery, to the privileges and responsibihties of freedom ; and 
finally, its readiness, in every appropriate way, to co-operate with their 
American brethren in these philanthropic labors, and in all future en- 
deavors tending to promote the complete triumph of evangelical truth, 
religious equality, and universal peace. 



UNION DES EGLISES EVANGELIQUES DE FRANCE. 

Paris, 27th April, 1865. 

To THE President of the Contention of the 

Congregational Churches of Aisierica. 
Beverend and dear Sir, — The Union of Evangelical Churches of 
France was invited, in your name, to send a representative to your great 



60 LETTERS FROM FOREIGN BODIES* 

Convention. "We are very happy to "be able to answer your kind invita- 
tion. We send, as our delegate to your Convention, our dear friend, the 
Eev. Theodore Monod, who succeeded his excellent and lamented father, 
the Eev. Dr. Monod, in his church at Paris. M. Monod is a bond of 
union between France and America; for, as he was born for the first 
time in Paris, he was born again in your great revival, and, although 
Pastor in our metropohs, he has studied and has been ordained in your 
country. 

When we decided to send him to your assembly, we charged him with 
a message of exultant joy over the triumph of the cause of union and 
liberty. That final and splendid victory, secured after an amount of 
energetic efforts and of sacrifice hitherto unequalled, filled us French Prot- 
estants with a delight and an enthusiasm which words can not describe. 
If it had been our own cause, we should not have felt more. And it was 
indeed our own cause which had been imperiled; our own cause which, 
for four years, had been contemned and abused, when all the enemies of 
political, civil, and religious liberty prophesied scornfully that your 
union would be broken, and that your flag, upon which is inscribed all 
that which is dear to us, would lose for ever all its prestige. Kow the 
Lord be praised; we have much prayed for you; we thank our G-od with 
you from the deepest of our heart. 

But now, we are filled with mourning and awe; and our representa- 
tive, M. Monod, will tell you under what gloom was held the anniver- 
sary of our Evangelical Society, which began just at the hour when the 
frightful news of Mr. Lincoln's assassination was known in Paris. Oh, 
you might have seen how much your cause is ours, by the universal 
lamentation which it excited among us all. But, in our deep sorrow, 
we did not for a moment fear for the ultimate result. We know that 
the more the Lord chastises us, the greater are the blessings which he 
keeps for us. M. Monod will convey to you our deepest sympathy in 
that bereavement which afiects every one of us. 

May the Lord, Mr. President, give to your great Convention an 
immense efficacy for the spread of His truth, and for the temporal and 
spiritual welfare of your great nation. May the fruits of that assembly 
ripen even after the removal of our generation for a better world; may 
your children and your children's children have to bless the day of your 
meeting. 

In the name of the Commission Synodale, 

G. FiscH, President. 

T. Aemand Delille, Pastor, Secretaire. 



Eev. Dr. Thompson, of New York, read the following com- 
munication and address from the Welsh brethren : — 

(translation.) 
At the annual meeting of the Glamorganshire Association of Congre- 
gational ministers and churches, held at Mountain Ash, Aberdare, May 
31, 1865, it was unanimously resolved, — 



LETTERS FROM FOREIGN BODIES. 



61 



1. That this Conference, representing 150 churches, 102 ministers, 81 
lay preachers, and more than 20,000 communicants, rejoices to hear that 
an important Convention of the Congregational churches of the United 
States of America is to meet next month at Boston; earnestly prays 
that the Lord's blessing may rest on their deliberations ; and appoints 
the Eev. John Thomas, Tabernacle, Liverpool, C. K. Jones, Esq., 
Llanoyllin, and Mr. John Griffiths, London, to represent this associa- 
tion at the Boston Convention. 

2. That this Association greatly rejoices at the termination of the 
war in America; gratefully acknowledges the persistent and successful 
efforts of the iSTorth to extirpate the hateful curse of slavery; hails the 
restoration of the Union with joy and thankfulness; deeply sympathizes 
with the people and the government of the United States in their sor- 
row for the cruel and base assassination of one of the wisest, noblest, 
most honest, and most tender-hearted men that ever governed the United 
States, or any other country; admires the quiet and firm manner in 
which the government was carried on at so dangerous a crisis, and not- 
withstanding a catastrophe so unexpected and appalling; and 'earnestly 
trusts that the future of the Union will be worthy of the glorious history 
to which the American people can lay claim, from the first landing of 
the Pilgrim Fathers on the shores of the Western Continent, until now; 
and desires its representatives to convey this resolution to our beloved 
brethren at the Boston Convention. 



Thomas Rees, d, d., Chairman. [diff. 

John Da vies, Mount Stuart Chapel, Car- 

Hexrt Oliver, b. a. (Land Univ.), Pan- 

JoHN Rees, Canaan, Swansea. [typudd. 

Thomas Thomas, Landore, Swansea. 

Jonah Roberts, Summerfield, Neath. 

Herbert Dais^iel, Port-y-Pool. 

John Jones, Zoar, Maestey. 

John Matthews, Neath. 

Rhys Swestn Jones, Merthyr Tydfil. 

John Lloyd James, Whitchurch. 

John Jones, Rudery. 

James Evans, Carmel, [dare. 

William Williainis, Ahercrornhay, Aher- 

S. D. Jones, Eeolgenig, Merthyr. 

J. M. Davies, Maesycwmur. 

Pryse Howell, Xnysr/an Chapel, Merthyr. 

R. Whittington, Freherbert. 

Stephen Davies, Soar, Aberdare. 

Morgan Morgan, Beihesda-y-pro. 

William Morgan, Saron Troedyrhiew. 

James Thomas, Carmel, Bonvilstone. 

John Ben an, Warmarluyd, Swansea. 

Robert Jones, Craigyfargod. 

John Davies, Tailierion, 



John Jones, Carmel. 
Richard Williams, Bryn. 
JosiAH Thomas Jones, Aberdare. 
JosuAH Thomas, Salem, Aberdare. 
Thomas Davies, Eoreb, Morriston. 
John Griffiths, Glantaf. 
Jonah Morgan, Cmmbach, Aberdare. 
William Williajis, Hinoaen, Aberdare. 
Rees Morgan, Addaldy,Glynneath Neath. 
David Evans, Briton Ferry, Neath. 
David Jones, Wind Street Chapel, Neath. 
Tho's Llewelyn, Mountain Ash, Aber- 
JoHN Davies, Pontygof, Ehbw Vale. [dare. 
William Edwards, Aberdare. 
WiLLiAiNi Watkins, Maesteg. 
William Morgans, Maesteg. 
David Price, Silsa, Aberdare, 
Evan Pritchard, Glandur. 
John Evans, Maendn. 
Ellis Hughes, Penmain. 
David Davies, Newinn. 
William Griffiths, Llanharhan. 
Richard Griffiths, Cefucoe 
R. Rowlands, Aberaman. 
David Richards, Caerphilly. 



The following address to the Convention of the American Congrega- 
tional Union, assembling in the city of Boston, Massachussetts, on the 



62 LETTERS FROM FOREIGN BODIES. 

14th of June, 1865, from ministers, deacons, and members belonging 
to the Welsh Congregational churches in the towns of Liverpool and 
Birkenhead, and a number of friends from London, and the Principality, 
at a public breakfast given May 30th, 1865, to their friends and breth- 
ren, the Eev. J. Thomas, Liverpool, C. R. Jones, Esq., Llanfyllin, and 
Mr. J. Griffith, London, on their departure on a visit to America: — 

Moved by the Rev. IST. Stephens, Liverpool; seconded by the Rev. W. 
Ambrose, Portmadoc (Secretary of the Carnarvonshire Association) ; 
supported by the Rev. O. Evans, Wrexham (Secretary of the Associa- 
tion of the Counties of Denbigh and Flint). 

To THE President of the Contention of 

THE American CoNGREaATioNAE Union. 

Honored Sir, — We, ministers, office-bearers, and members of the 
Welsh Congregational Churches, in Liverpool, Birkenhead, and else- 
where, who have assembled together on this 30th day of May, 1865, 
desire, through you, to express our fraternal love and regard for our 
American brethren, of the same faith and order, assembled at your con- 
vention, and the American churches and people in general. We feel 
assured, that the numerous Welsh Congregational churches in the 
Northern States, and thousands of our countrymen resident there, will 
be rejoiced to hear the expression of sympathy and affection towards 
their adopted country, from friends and brethren in their native land. 

Our ministers in Liverpool have had the privilege of presenting an 
address to your eminent brother and countryman, the Rev. H. Ward 
Beecher, at a public breakfast given him by the friends of the Federal 
Union and negro emancipation, in this town, on his departure from our 
shores, after his recent visit to this country; expressing their profound 
sympathy with the government and people of the Northern States, in 
their great struggle to crush the infamous rebellion of the slaveocracy of 
the South. 

In that address, they had the confidence to affirm it as their convic- 
tion, that had opportunities been afforded them, almost all the min- 
isters and churches of our denomination in the principality of Wales — 
nearly eight hundred in number — would have cordially concurred in the 
sentiments therein contained. Subsequent information fully sustained 
that conviction. 

Sir, we have watched the progress of the desolating war, which for 
the last four years afflicted your country, with the deepest solicitude. 
Our best sympathies were with your cause ; our prayers were also in 
your calamities ; and now those calamities being overpast, we are anx- 
ious to embrace the opportunity afforded by the assembling of your 
Convention to offer you our hearty congratulations on the happy termi- 
nation of the unhappy strife. We rejoice in your rejoicings. We con- 
gratulate you, that, through the mercy of an overruling Providence, 
your Federal Union has ridden triumjDhantly through the terrific tem- 
pests which at one time threatened to overwhelm it; that it has come 
out of the fiery ordeal like gold purified in the farnace, having the 



ADDRESS. 63 

plague spot of slavery wiped off entirely, and for ever, we trust, from its 
fair escutcheon. 

The sacrifice, which you were called upon to make, indeed, was great 
and costly; but the blessings obtained, — the liberation of four millions 
of human beings from bondage and oppression as cruel as ever disgraced 
the earth; the eradication of the cancer which ate the vitals of the polit- 
ical Constitution of the Union; the removal of the hateful incubus which 
rested on the churches, and disfigured the fair face of Christianity in the 
land, — must be esteemed as a fair compensation. 

Sir, we rejoice in the fact that the Congregational body in America 
has never, so far as our knowledge goes, participated in the actual guilt 
of negro slavery. We bless God that you have been enabled to keep 
aloof from the accursed thing, and to raise your voices against it, main- 
taining the spirit and traditions of your noble Pilgrim fathers, who 

" planted freedom's sacred tree 

Two hundred years ago " 

on the rock of Plymouth. 

We confidently trust that the universal cry of horror and indignation, 
raised simultaneously by all parties in England, at the atrocious deed of 
assassination by which your late honest, amiable, and virtuous Presi- 
dent was cut 05" in the hour of triumph and rejoicing; the words of 
tender and heartfelt sympathy and condolence sent by our beloved wid- 
owed Queen Victoria to the sorrowing widow of your illustrious Abra- 
ham Lincoln; the warm sympathy expressed by our Government and 
Houses of Parliament with your Government and people on that mourn- 
ful occasion, — will serve to calm and to soothe the offended feelings of 
our American brethren toward the mother country, on account of the 
sympathy shown by a certain party, and a portion of our public press, 
with the late rebellion, and be the means of uniting both countries 
together in a closer union, and deeper mutual affection, than ever before. 
May it ever be regarded as a most sacred duty, by ministers and Chris- 
tian men in both countries, to use all possible endeavors to influence 
their respective governments to maintain peace and amity between 
Great Britain and America; so that they go forth hand in hand to con- 
fer upon the world the blessings of peace, civilization, and religion. 

Pinally, we rejoice in the benevolent and Christian object which your 
Union is contemplating; that of returning blessing upon the South for 
the curse which its slave oligarchy has brought upon your land ; by 
establishing educational and religious institutions there, for the tem- 
poral and spiritual benefit of the poor and neglected negro races, to 
whom the late war brought the inestimable boon of emancipation; yea, 
to preach the gospel of peace and good-will to those who have been so 
long and so cruelly oppressed and to those who oppressed them, — to 
make of both, who till lately stood in the anomalous relation of master 
and slave to each other, " one new man, making peace." " Out of the 
South came the whirlwind " of rebellion and devastation upon your land. 
Out of the Xorth also came the cold which blasted that rebellion; and 



64 CANADA DELEGATION. 

now it may be added, " Fair weather cometh from the Korth," when its 
right hand is extended toward its fellow-countrymen in the South, to 
bestow upon them the blessings of the gospel of the grace of God, irre- 
spective of race or color. 

May the eye of the great Head of the church be upon you, to guide 
and direct your deliberations. May the spirit of the Lord rest upon 
your convention, " the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit 
of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the 
Lord." 

"William Bees, Chairman. 

The documents were accepted. 

INSTRUCTIONS TO THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE. 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Eustis, of Connecticut, it was 

Voted, That the dominating Committee be requested to bring before 
the Council the nominations for committees on business, finance, print- 
ing, and devotional exercises. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut, it was 

Voted, That the Nominating Committee be authorized to nominate as 
many persons on each of these committees as they think best. 

Rev. Mr. Dexter stated that Mr. Atkins, one of the scribes, 
asked to be excused, and moved that the Nominating Committee 
be requested to nominate a scribe in his place. Carried. 

THE CANAJDA DELEGATION. 

Eev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut, inquired if the names of the delegates 
from Canada had been inserted in the list as members of the Council, 
or whether they stood on the same footing as the brethren from Eng- 
land. 

Dr. Patton said that was for the Council to decide. 

Eev. Dr. Bacon. I want the question presented now. I received, 
some time ago, a communication, indirectly, in regard to the reioresenta- 
tion of some Canadian churches in this National Council; and I made 
reply, that the terms of invitation to this Council made it not an Ecu- 
menical nor an International Council, but simply a National one. The 
call is addressed to all those Congregational churches in the United 
States of America which are in recognized fellowship and co-operation, 
through general associations, general conferences, and conventions. 
Canada is not in the United States; and I therefore suggested that 
representatives from those churches would be gladly, I had no doubt, 
received here on the same footing with representatives from Great 
Britain and from France, as delegates from foreign churches, with which 
we are in fellowship. I move that those brethren who present creden- 



WELCOME TO THE FOREIGN DELEGATES. 65 

tials from various bodies of Congregational ministers and churclies in 
foreign countries be received as honorary members of this National 
Council. 

The motion was carried. 

Eev. Dr. Budington, of New York, inquired if any documents had 
been presented to the committee on Credentials with regard to the Eev. 
Dr. Massie, of London, who was present. 

Eev. Dr. Patton, of Illinois, said that no credentials had been pre- 
sented to the committee. 

Eev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut, said that Dr. Massie had formerly 
visited this country, and was known as our stanchest friend in times 
of trial ; and he would move that he be invited to sit as an honorary 
member of this Council. 

Carried. 

WELCOME TO THE FOREIGN DELEGATES. 

The moderator then addressed the foreign delegates as 
follows : — 

Christian Brethren, — In behalf of the Council, I greet you with a 
cordial welcome. It is true, as has been stated in one of the documents 
which have been presented to this Council, that for the last four or five 
years, the condition of this country has been unparalleled in its embar- 
rassment. TTe have been contending, as we feel, not for ourselves 
merely, but for the interests of humanity and the interests of Christian- 
ity throughout the civilized world. [Applause.] It has required all 
the energies of our minds and our hands, and all the sympathies of our 
hearts ; but, in the exercise of these powers, we have suppressed the 
rebellion, and to-day we have peace. [Applause.] In securing that 
peace, it is true, we have laid our sons and brothers upon a hundred 
battle-fields in death; it is true that our honored President has been 
struck down by the assassin's hand, and mourning and sorrow have 
spread all over our land, and reached our brethren in foreign lands. 
But to-day, blessed be God, we turn from that past which has occupied 
our attention, with cheerful hearts, to engage in a cause more welcome 
to our hearts, — quite as dear and quite as important to the interests of 
Christianity as those duties in which we have hitherto been engaged. 
And we meet in council to-day to take measures to plant New England, 
with all her educational and all her Christian institutions, in the great 
West, and in the South, and in all parts of this laud, in spite of the obstacles 
which stand in our way, which were presented so eloquently and ably 
by the gentleman [Eev. Dr. Sturtevant] who addressed us this morning. 
[Applause.] We are grateful that in such an hour as this, the minds 
of Christian brethren in our mother-country, and in other countries, are 
turned with interest toward us; and we are happy to greet you here 
to-day, and to receive from you those messages of sympathy and Chris- 
tian afiection which we know come from those whom we love, holding, 
^^ith us, Chi'ist as the common head of the living chui'ch. We shall be 
5 



6Q ADDRESS OF DR. VAUGHAN. 

happy, brethren, to listen to you" at this hour, and to receive from your 
own lips such words as you shall be pleased to utter. 

REPLY OF REY. ROBERT VATJGHAN, D. D., OF LOKDON", ENGLAKD. 

My dear and honored Brethren, — I have come very far to see you, to 
look you in the face, to shake you by the hand, and to tell you of the 
friendly thoughts, and of the honest sympathies, which are cherished 
toward you by multitudes in the land that I have left. Our assembly, 
representing the Congregational churches of England and Wales, ap- 
pointed my friend Dr. Raleigh and myself as delegates to this body, — 
calling us from our homes and our work, solely that we might appear 
in your midst; and we are here, rejoicing in the thought that in you 
we see the representatives of nearly 3,000 American Congregational 
churches ; and we feel thankful in being able to assure you, that in us 
you see the representatives of nearly the same number of churches of 
the same faith and order in the old country. [Applause.] Those 
churches have deputed us to express to you on this occasion their most 
cordial greeting. They have laid it upon us to assure you of their sincere 
sympathy with every thing touching your welfare as American Congre- 
gationalists, and with every thing pertaining to the social and tg the reli- 
gious interests of your great country. I ought to assure you that the 
members of the Congregational Union of England and Wales are men 
who always have been, and are now, so far as my knowledge goes, to a 
man, opposed to the slave system, — men who have pronounced it to be 
an unchristian, unrighteous, and iniquitous system, that should die, that 
must perish. [Applause.] They did not all of them see, as you may 
perhaps have been aware, in the earlier stages of your struggle, what 
policy was the best for your country and for the slave; but there was no 
difference in them, arising from one portion being friends of your coun- 
try, and the other not. !N'o such difference existed. They were all 
your friends, whether mistaken in judgment or right in judgment; and 
now, to a man, they receive the issues of your great struggle, looking 
upon them as having come to pass under the influence of a higher hand 
than the hand of a man. They congratulate you upon the extinction of 
that system that brought on the war, and rejoice in the prospect of the 
better days which they believe to be waiting humanity here and human- 
ity every where, through you. [Applause.] 

Mr. Chairman, in brief, there are not upon God's earth — no, not 
upon Grod's earth — hearts beating more truly toward this country, more 
as a brother's heart should beat, than the hearts of the men who consti- 
tute the Congregational Union of England and Wales. [Applause.] 
Being confident of this, I feel it laid upon me truly to say it. 

And now, sir, when I look upon this vast assembly, and remember 
what is represented by it, I have some memories rushing upon me, — 
thoughts which I should like to find words to express, but which I am 
sure I can not find words to express adequately. I must, however, ven- 
ture to remind our friends that this Congregationahsm, of which we have 



ADDRESS OF DR. VAUGHAN. '67 

been hearing so much, is distinctly and emphatically English. [Loud 
laughter and applause.] I mean what I say. Its revival in the modern 
church was left to be brought about by English thought and Enghsh 
piety, after it had been lost to the chm-ch for more than a thousand years. 
The men who were to discover this were men — a small band — devoted 
and brave in their generation. The mediaeval Christianity that prevailed 
in England before the Keformation, as you all know, came from Kome. 
The Church of England, too, as we now have it, good people as there 
are in it, is an establishment that may fairly be described as greatly 
more mediaeval than Protestant. And even Presbyterianism is an exotic 
in England; it did not grow there; it can hardly be said to ever have 
had any root there ; it has tried to live there, but has found it very hard 
to do so. [Laughter.] But there was to be a body of men, as I have 
said, in the time of Elizabeth, and subsequently, separating from the 
estabhshed church. The men who became exiles under Queen Mary, 
and returned under Elizabeth, brought Presbyterianism jfrom Frankfort 
and Geneva, and they tried to give it root in the country; but it could 
not be made to take root there, — it could not be made permanent there. 
But the separatists were men who began to thirst for that larger kind of 
liberty which our Congregationahsm gives to the human spirit. That 
thirst rose within them, they scarcely knew how; but Congregationalism 
was to them like the waters of Bethlehem to the parched lips of David: 
they must have it or die. [Applause.] "What God did in them as spirit- 
ual men, and what circumstances did around them, persecuting them at 
all points, fitted them for going to the New Testament, and discovering 
there the very pohty which they felt they needed, as the polity of the first 
churches bearing the apostolic sanction. 

I^ow, you know very well, for you have heard it to-day, that a portion 
of those holy men, worn and wearied by the trials of that country that 
would not give them liberty, came to this land in search of a home. Not 
far from this did they put their feet for the first time upon these shores; 
and here they were, as you know, to create a great future. A portion of 
those men remained in England; and there they had to make, and did 
make, a history for themselves, — a history of which we who have de- 
scended from ttem are by no means ashamed. [Applause.] The man 
does not deserve the name of Englishman, who is not proud of that 
period in his nation's history, when the high-souled thought and passion 
of a great people went forth through the genius of a Cromwell and a Mil- 
ton. [Loud applause.] "We are doing something now in England to 
bring up these old names, associated with these principles of Congrega- 
tionahsm, and marvelously chagrined are many around us at the thought 
that we can plead such a noble ancestry; but we mean to hold to it. 
[Applause.] 

But, sir, I see in this bit of history, in which we are now both inter- 
ested, something that presents itself to my imagination like the flow of 
some ancient river. I see its waters up in some far back territory, 
divided into two streams, and these two streams widen tjieir way 
apart, through their separate beds, until, after a long space, they are 



68 ADDRESS OF DR. VAUGHAN. 

seen verging toward each other, and finally the waters meet and are 
one again; and then roll on with greater force than ever, as if joyous at 
the meeting. Here are the two streams : your stream of Congregation- 
alism in America, our stream in England; and to-day, sir, the two 
come together, and we are one. [Loud applause.] "Will you excuse me 
if I ask you to give me your hand in token of this union? [The mod- 
erator and the speaker clasped hands amid enthusiastic applause.] This 
is a happy day, to me, sir! May the power be powerless and fall, come 
whence it may, that would ever divide men whom God has joined 
together by a common blood and a common faith! [Applause.] 

But, my friends, our Congregationalism is an infant ' in years com- 
pared with what it is "to be. It has, beyond all other systems, pro- 
nounced upon the grand question of the union of church and state. The 
early settlers of this country, indeed, were placed in peculiar circum- 
stances, and if they did not see every thing in relation to this principle at 
once, it was sure to be seen; and at this moment I could, were this the 
place for doing it, direct your attention to what is passing in Europe, 
which shows very clearly that the first order of minds in Europe are 
beginning to find their way to our principle of English independency, as 
presenting the grand secret by means of which to put an end to that 
broil of ages, — the mingling of the ecclesiastical with the civil. We 
have Emperor marshaled against Pope, and Pope against Emperor; we 
have hierarchies rising against nationalities, and nationalities rising 
against hierarchies. We have men coming forth not merely from 
schools of theology, but from the departments of high statesmanship, — 
such men as Guizot and Laboulaye, — and affirming, in their own way, 
that the great principle by which an end is to be put to this protracted 
strife is the principle by which men learn to give unto God the things 
which are God's, while they give unto Csesar the things that are his. 
Our friend, M. Monod, can tell you a little how French thought is work- 
ing in this direction; what M. Bersier and M. Pressense and others, are 
doing to illuminate the French mind upon this great principle. Then 
there is M. Yinet, a man who, coming out from an order of things very 
unhke ours, was brought, by the influence of fight, to embrace the prin- 
ciple we hold. The great Cavour learned to take up the maxim, " A 
free church in a free state," as what the peoj^le want. " Very good as 
far as it goes," say some, more enlightened yet. " Free churches in a 
free state — that is what we want." [Applause.] You can never have 
one church in any state that would not be a favoritism to some, and a 
wrong to others. You must look to a grand tolerance of variety, more 
or less, if there is to be really a system of fiberty for men; and our 
principles go in that direction. 

But, sir, I will not detain you longer. I should not have said this 
much but that, when a man comes across the Atlantic to speak half an 
hour, perhaps he may have it. [Laughter, and calls of " Go on."] 

Your country has passed through trouble ; but let it be remembered, 
dear brethren, that since those dark days of the war of independence, 
you have known nothing of what trouble means. Through that long 



ADDRESS OF DR. VAUGHAN. 69 

interval, until within the last three or four years, your history has been 
one unbroken flow of prosperity. And will you bear with me in saying, 
that it is not in the power of prosperity alone to raise a nation to all the 
greatness of which a nation is capable? Individuals and communities 
are ripened by other influences into higher forms of manhood. It is very 
instructive, as you know, to see what the fruits are that a good man 
brings out of his trouble, — the broader thought, the calmer self-posses- 
sion, the wiser patience and considerateness, the higher development of 
the richer tones of man's nature. Nations may have that, — G-od means 
that you shall have it. He is doing by you as he does by many more. 
The result will be that for which your children will be grateful. "We 
sympathize with you in what you have had to bear. Misconceptions of 
all kinds have been brought against you, — some in quarters where you 
might have expected them, others in quarters where you might have 
expected better things: you have had to bear these. Malignity, in all 
forms and grades, has leveled its envenomed shafts at you, and that, too, 
in your hour of trial: you have had to 'bear that. And the dastard 
villanies of assassination have been allowed to place their ingredients in 
the cup which you have had to drink. But be of good cheer, brethren! 
The dark day is past, and the day to come will be brighter. Many who 
did not see your case at first, could not see it as it really was, have come 
to see it as it is. Many who prophesied that if a strain hke that which 
has come upon your institutions were once to come upon them, they 
would snap asunder, and proclaim their emptiness and worthlessness to 
the world, have proved false prophets, as you know. The strain has 
come; the snap has not taken place; the institutions are here on a more 
solid rock than before. And this takes place in the sight of all the 
nations. It has gone forth wherever a freeman is found, or the friends 
of freedom, like a new song of hope for humanity; and it has gone to the 
homes of the oppressor hke a knell of despair. Your victory is ours ; 
your progress is ours. Man's fate is bound up not a little with your 
fate. Never forget that. You have now coming upon you new duties. 
Your armies have gained victories that have placed you in the foremost 
rank of nations in that respect. What so fitting now as that you show 
that you are capable of realizing the victories of peace, if need be, at a 
cost as great as that which has been involved in the victories of war? 
Let this be done, and the reputation, the honorable name of your coun- 
try will be greater than ever, and institutions hke yours have a fairer 
chance of becoming the institutions of men than they have ever possessed 
in the history of the world. Count it not a hard thing to be summoned 
to this work. It is because the God of your fathers means to make you 
honorable and useful in the earth that he has summoned you to it. That 
luxuriant South has destroyed the Spaniard, from the day when he first 
put his foot upon the soil down to now, while this hardy North has 
reinvigorated the Anglo-Saxon. Nations are wasted, swept away as 
worthless, by being allowed to live in ease and indulgence. They are 
made strong by being compelled to do, to dare, and to suffer. If these 
things be so, then have you not encouragement? Your ship has weath- 



70 ADDRESS OF DR. VAUGHAN. 

ered this storm, as that old ship from whose deck I have just come has 
weathered many a storm before, and she is none the worse for it. Ko, 
that land is far better .to-day than it has been since the days of which I 
was speaking just now, — the days of our Cromwell and Milton. When 
you were brought into your trouble by the high tory faction, — a church 
and king tyranny, — that rule was extended over us, and far into the pres- 
ent century; but it is gone, gone forever. Then we were under the regime 
of the Corporation and Test Acts, which excluded every Englishman 
from every office in which he could serve his country, unless he were 
prepared to take the sacrament according to the forms prescribed by the 
Church of England. That impious tyranny is no more. The Catholic 
then asked, and asked from year to year, without a prospect of success, 
to be allowed to have a voice, through men of his faith, on the floor of 
the House of Commons. That exclusion, too, no longer exists. Our 
House of Commons, too, through the influence of our peers, in their 
nomination boroughs, could b§ so packed by nobles as to be the peers' 
house rather than the people's house. The great Eeform Bill has made 
all our statesmen understand, that to create a majority in our House of 
Commons is the work of the people, and that where that majority is, 
there the power of the realm is to be found. Our municipal corporations 
were all close, consisting of men who had passed through the Test- Act 
process to get there, and who filled up vacancies among themselves. 
Now, our townsmen and citizens choose all these functionaries by fair 
and open sufii-age; and the consequence is, that the municipal power of 
the country has passed, to a large extent, into the hands of the Congre- 
gationalists. So, too, it has been in other ways. Education has ad- 
vanced marvelously beyond what it was. Cheap and good literature is 
flooding the country to an extent that is almost incredible, and the 
result is, we have working-classes now so well educated, that, if we were 
to be a republic to-morrow, we should have nothing to fear. [" Hear, 
hear," and applause.] This is everywhere obvious to those who know 
what our country is. Really, paradoxical as it may sound, I can 
venture to say, old England was never so young as at this day. 
[Laughter.] 

Why do I touch upon this? Is it in mere boastfulness? O, God 
forbid! God forbid! It is from God, not from any desert of ours, that I 
am able here, upon your platform, to speak thus of that dear home of 
mine. God has done it for us, and will do more. Our march began 
with the early years of this century, and take care that we do not catch 
you before the end of it. [Laughter and applause.] But I will only 
now say, sir, that the grand mission, I think, that God is showing to us, 
— your country and ours, — is that we shall demonstrate that we have 
been made free that we might delight to make others free. All that I 
have said has been intended to show to you how admirably the two 
countries are mated for this great mission; and if it should be given to us 
to see that this is what Providence would seem to have devolved upon 
us, who can tell the result? But my last word to you is this: This will 
not be but as the good men of this land, and the good men of our land, 



COMMITTEES. 71 

resolve that with God's help it shall he. There will be bad men with you, 
there will be bad men with us, and we must not lean upon the conscious- 
ness that our cause is good, and allow the bad to triumph. We must 
feel that we have to watch against it, to neutralize it, and to endeavor in 
every possible way to secure amity between England and America, that 
they may be one for no selfish purpose, but one for God and human- 
ity. The Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes must float in every 
harbor of the world; the commodities of your country and of mine must 
be exposed in competition in all the markets of the globe ; and one only 
needs to look back to the history of England and Holland two hundred 
years ago, to perceive how much there must be in the relations of two 
such nations, calhng on both sides for a superiority to all little irritating 
things, and for a breadth of manhood that will not be offended by trifles, 
but will know how to subordinate them to great principles and to duty. 
[Loud applause.] 

BUSINESS COMMITTEES. 

Rev. Mr. Langworthy, chairman of the committee on Nominar 
tions, reported the following as the committees of the Council : — 

COMMITTEE Olif BUSINESS. 

Kev. Alonzo H. Quint, of Massachusetts ; Eev. Samuel Wolcott, D. D., 
of Ohio; Kev. Benjamin Labaree, D.D., of Vermont; Dea. Philo Carpen- 
ter, of Illinois ; Dea. Samuel F. Drury, of Michigan. 

COSOHTTEE ON DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

Eev. Edward ]^. Kirk, d.d., of Boston; Rev. Wm. De Loss Love, of 
"Wisconsin; Rev. Asa Turner, of Iowa; Rev. George E. Adams, D. D., 
of Maine; Dea. Daniel H. Parker, of New Hampshire. 

comj^ottee on finance. 
Dea. Charles Stoddard, of Massachusetts; Henry C. Bowen, of New 
York, E. Beecher Preston, of Connecticut; Hon. Douglas Putnam, of 
Ohio; Dea. Moses Pettengill, of Illinois. 

COMMITTEE ON PRINTINO. 

Rev. James B. Miles, of Massachusetts; Rev. John C. Holbrook, D. D., 
of New York; Dea. Elnathan F. Duren, of Maine. 

ADDITIONAL SECRETARY. 

Rev. Elihu P. Marvin, of Massachusetts, in place of Mr. Atkins. 

ADDRESS OF REY. ALEXANDER RALEIGH, D. D., OF LONDON, ENGLAND. 

Rev. Dr. Raleigh, having been called upon to address the 
convention, said : — 

J/r. Moderator, — ! am perfectly sensible of the value of the time of 
this assembly, and therefore I am loath to present myself, especially 
after my venerated friend, Dr. Yaughan, has spoken so long and so well; 



72 ADDRESS or DR. RALEIGH. 

but I, too, have come across the Atlantic to say something, if 1 may be 
allowed a very short space of your time, for others, as well as for myself; 
for others, because they are pleased to judge that in the main my thought 
would be theirs. 

It is impossible to meet you here without thinking and speaMng of 
the last four years. Those years speak themselves so loudly, and lead 
so far into future time, that unless one shall catch some of their voice, 
and chime in with their solemn and grand tones, it is a mere imperti- 
nence to profess to speak at all. I want to speak to you for a few min- 
utes of those last four years ; and to tell you, if I can, how intense an 
interest has been in the hearts of many of us, in all you have been doing, 
attempting, achieving, suffering; what a joy we have sometimes had, and 
sometimes what an agony of sympathy we have felt, as your fortunes 
have been rising or falhng during those memorable years. It is literally 
true that we have had you in our hearts. Perhaps no single day of those 
four years has passed, in which some of our best and most sacred 
thoughts, — thoughts ever ready to melt into feeling or rise into prayer, — 
have not been with you here, upon this side of the Atlantic. We have 
serenaded your president, a martyr now. Peace to his ashes, eternal 
honor to his memory. We have camped with your soldiers upon the 
banks of the Potomac, listening to the rippling of the river, and looking 
up into the ghttering stars. We have watched the dark tide of battle 
rise and fall upon those blood-red fields to which you have given undy- 
ing names. We have rejoiced with you in your victories. We have 
wept with you over your slain. 

I know some of you say, in a kindly way, — I have heard it more than 
once since I came ■ — " If this is so, we are sorry we did not know it more 
fully." [Applause.] Well, I shall be honest: I am sorry too. [Ke- 
newed applause.] I am sorry you did not know it more fully and more 
seasonably; but I give you the word of an honest man that it is not the 
less true upon that account. We did not understand your circumstan- 
ces ; and I do not think you have quite understood ours. 

The truth is, — and I do not suppose any of us have the least interest 
in concealing the truth, — we have not all been of one mind in reference 
to some of the exterior aspects of your question; and we have taken the 
English and American liberty of expressing our thoughts and opinions. 
A great many of us have been with you from the beginning, and through 
and through. [Applause.] We have believed that your cause was 
right, and that you were promoting it, in the main, in the right way, — in 
the only way in which it could be effectually promoted under the cir- 
cumstances. We have thought your end good, and we have thought 
your means necessary. We have judged that you were fighting for us, 
as well as for yourselves ; for liberty against slavery ; for good govern- 
ment against political misrule ; for morality against many social shames ; 
for peace over this continent, and through the whole earth. Instead of 
falling in with the vulgar and hypocritical cry against the " War Chris- 
tians," which some newspaper correspondents upon this side of the water 
have attempted to raise against you, we have judged that if the war be 



ADDRESS OF DR. RALEIGH. 73 

in itself just and necessary, it would better be in the hands of Christians 
than in the hands of other men. [ApjDlause.] And why? Because we 
have felt that they will conduct it without personal animosity; that they 
will soothe its inevitable horrors and miseries with Christian sympathy; 
that they will treat the vanquished with humanity; that they will soothe 
the agonies of the dying, and bury the dead with honor. We have felt 
that they might be trusted, on the one hand, not to cease from the war 
so long as it should be necessary, and thus betray interests far more 
precious to humanity than a few years of human life ; and, on the other 
hand, not to continue it one hour beyond the time when with safety and 
honor it might cease. These have been our views. 

Others among us, feeling not less kindly to you, have had many diffi- 
culties, — really you should not be surprised at this, for you have had 
them among yourselves, — difficulties with regard to state rights, and 
what not; in relation to your central federal power, and in relation to 
accomplishing good by means of evil. Those doubts have been hanging 
upon the minds of some of our thoughtful and serious men. I am thank- 
ful I never shared them to any appreciable extent myself. I saw your 
way — just the way you have taken — in all these difficulties-, just as I 
saw my way in faith and hope through some of the thick fogs through 
which we passed upon the Atlantic in coming to your hospitable West- 
ern shores. But I claimed the liberty for those who had these doubts to 
have them if they felt they must; and temperately to ex^Dress them, 
and to hold them until, by human argument or by Divine Providenqe, 
they should be disputed and set aside. " Charity believeth all things, 
hopeth all things, endm-eth all things." 

Kow we want to strike hands in peace, friendship, and co-operation in 
our great Master's work. We all yield to the logic of events. We all 
accept the facts of the present hour. I think I may say that now we 
are all glad that you have triumphed. Dr. Yaughan has borne true tes- 
timony that there is not a man among us CongregationaUsts, that would 
have had a thought of any thing but sorrow and shame at the triumph 
of the South over you. We are all glad that you have triumphed; 
glad that you did not give up your work until it was done ; glad that 
you refused to listen to those alluring overtures of peace proffered to you 
by men among your own ranks and by others from abroad, while yet 
there lay in the very heart of the South the principles of eternal rebellion 
and war ; and glad, above all, to recognize, as my venerated friend has so 
fully done, the action of a superior Power; glad to think how much God 
has taken this matter into his own hands. It was in his providence, if not 
by his direct ordination, that there came so early in this struggle this par- 
tial chill of some portion of British sympathy. You were taught by this 
a precious lesson, — a lesson you will never forget, and for which the whole 
world will be the better, — the lesson of complete self-reliance in doing 
that which you felt was necessary to be done. [Applause] And your great 
enemy was thus, I believe, led on and on, until he put all upon the final 
cast, and brought on the overwhelming and glorious end. Oh, He is 
wonderful in counsel and excellent in workino:. 



74 ADDRESS OF DR. RALEIGH. 

I wish I could tell you with how much cordiality we have been sent 
to you, and with how much earnest and loving desire we came. I have 
attended many meetings of the Congregational Union of England and 
"Wales, and I have seen, in my time, some pleasant excitements, some 
enthusiasms ; but I cannot remember any thing at all approaching the 
unbounded enthusiasm and the excitement with which the subject of our 
relation to you and your churches was entertained and settled at the 
meeting of the last month. It was as if long pent-up waters had es- 
caped at last. It was as if our love — we hardly know how, strangely 
to some of us, and not with our will — had been kept in by restrictions ; 
but the hour came at length ; and then I only wish you could have been 
there to see how that sober, quiet, deliberative assembly became in a 
few minutes like your Il^iagara. We seemed to have solved the prob- 
lem of the Atlantic telegraph before it had been laid; and it seemed 
that we were sending waves of cordiahty to your shores, instead of a 
few solitary men like my friend and myself.. 

Receive us. We come in truth and sincerity. " We be true men; thy 
servants be no spies." [Applause.] We come to ' behold neither the 
nakedness nor the fullness of your land. We rejoice in the beneficence 
of your constitution, the stability of your laws, the loyalty of your citi- 
zens, the indomitable courage of your soldiers, the education of your 
common people, the increase of your population. We rejoice — I do, 
for I love every growing thing — in your vast plains, although we have 
not seen them yet, your wide-stretching prairies, every wind of which 
sings the song of freedom. We rejoice in your mountains and rivers 
and lakes and seas. G-od has brought you into a goodly land; foun- 
tains and depths springing out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and 
barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates ; a land of oil and wine. 
[SeeDeut. 8: 8.] Only beware, — we say this with sorrowful memory 
of our own failures, — beware lest thou forget the commandments of 
the Lord thy God, which he doth command thee again this day in the 
solemn hour of trial, and under the solemnities of Sinai itself. 

-Receive us, I say; and make with us a covenant of peace, this day; 
and let us go home, and say we know you have made it in your hearts. 
Oh, my heart trembles and is afraid, when I draw with the finger of 
imagination the scenes that would rise upon an astonished world if these 
two great people were to fall into deadly strife. My heart trembles, 
not with any craven fear. I am an Englishman; at least I am a Scotch- 
man, and that is still better. [Applause.] But I know my country- 
men; and I know that like yours they are incapable of fear, in a mat- 
ter which touches the honor or the life of the nation. We are of your 
own metal. Now judge our hearts by that, and test them. Judge 
by that what a war must be, if there be the pith of England upon the 
one side, and the resources of America upon the other: too shocking a 
thing to be imagined. I want peace with my whole heart. I know it is 
vain to say, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace. "First pure, then 
peaceable." Justice comes before peace, and must be its base. If in 
any thing we have wronged you, and if you can make it good before the 



ADDRESS OF DR. MASSIE. 75 

judgment of mankind, or even to our own moral consciousness, we will 
use all our influence that your wrongs may be righted, whatever they 
may be. [Applause.] And if you have wronged us, you must do the 
same. [Renewed applause.] This we can do. "We can resolve that 
all such diflQculties — and I shall not allude to them more particularly — 
shall be taken up and considered in the spirit of Christian justice and 
charity. A war need not be. A war cannot be without great mutual sin. 

What can any man propose by such a war? What can any statesman 
propose to gain? What could we do to each other? I will tell you 
what we could do. We could sweep the commerce of both nations from 
the sea. We could ensanguine the waves that usually roll so peacefully 
between us. We could add to the already too long list of the world's 
battle-fields. We could multiply widows and orphans, and swell the 
dark tide- of misery in both lands. We could cast into the unknown 
future, seeds of evil, which our children and children's children will cer- 
tainly reap when we are in our graves. But what benefit of any kind 
could be proposed by such a strife, how it could be thought in any way 
to help justice, fairness, humanity, or religion, I cannot tell. May the 
God of peace bruise Satan under our feet shortly. May He turn the heart 
of England to America, and the heart of America to England, lest He 
come and smite the earth with a curse. 

Einally, I may say again, like my venerated brother, we bid you Grod 
speed in your blessed work. It is a work that will require all your wis- 
dom, all your patience, all your love; and sure I am that if you continue 
it with that persistent tenacity, which has been commended to you so 
nobly in the eloquent discourse of this morning, you will at length 
spread over this whole continent righteousness and love: and the fruits 
of righteousness shall be peace and quietness forever. Now blessed 
be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things ; 
and blessed be His name for ever; and let the whole earth be filled with 
His glory. Amen and amen. 

ADDRESS OF REV. JAMES W, MASSIE, D. D., OF EIS^GLAND. 

Rev. Dr. Massie, of England, being called upon, addressed 
the convention as follows : — 

Mr. Moderator^ — I feel as if I were renewing the intercourse with my 
American brethren which terminated eighteen months ago, after one of 
the most pleasant scenes I ever witnessed or took part in. My fellowship 
with American Christians and ministers of religion at that time gave 
me assurance that not only were you ready to accomplish a great work, 
but were willing to accomplish it in fellowship with English Christians. 
I rejoice in the testimony that my brethren have borne concerning the 
denomination to which they and I belong; and especially do I rejoice 
in the testimony that Dr. Raleigh has presented as to the enthusiasm 
which pervaded our Congregational assembly upon the nomination of 
those two excellent brethren, when it was projDosed and carried. I 



76 ADDRESS OF DR. WILKES. 

think that, if this assembly had heard our friend, Dr. Ealeigh, in the 
speech he uttered upon that occasion, there would be indeed what he 
has described as the bursting tide of N"iagara, even here. I felt then 
constrained to say that the triumph of your cause was as manifest in 
the city of London as it had been in the city of Kichmond. [Ap- 
plause.] 

I come here with credentials from no association, though there are 
associations that requested me to come. Those associations gave me 
my credentials upon my former visit; but inasmuch as they were for 
union and for emancipation, for the freedmen of America, — the freedmen's 
aid commissions of England, — I did not think it would be suitable to 
present these credentials, which I have in my pocket, to a council of Con- 
gregational ministers. But I came that I might witness the welcome 
that you would give to my brothers; to witness the testimony they 
would bear of the country from which I come; and that, if I might be 
a humble instrument, I might yet increase the tide of sympathy and 
affection that flows between the American and the English people. 

I feel that we are not two nations. I feel that we are one people; that 
my best kindred, in collateral lineation, dwell with you; that your 
kindred dwell with us ; that your language is my language ; that your 
rehgion is mine; and that your laws, and the spirit of your laws, may be 
said to be congenial with our laws and the spirit of our laws. Your mis- 
sions and our missions flow in the same channel, and pervade the same 
fields of action. You are generously sustaining us, while we are seeking 
honorably to sustain you, in extending the knowledge of the gospel of 
Christ to all lands. I rejoice in that sympathy between us. I am sure 
that Dr. Ealeigh's fears will never be realized; for, were war to prevail 
between England and America, not only would priestcraft send forth a 
howl of rejoicing, and the aristocracy and oppressors of mankind mingle 
together their hisses of applause, but the very devils in hell itself would 
rejoice; because the instruments callable of the greatest work of regen- 
eration and evangelization in the earth, would be shattered and rendered 
unfit for operation. Let England and America be one in their religion, 
and in co-operation, and all the tyrannies of the world wiU quail before 
them. Let their one language girdle the earth, and be the channel of 
rehgious instruction and sympathy and love, and heathenism will submit, 
and our God shall be all and in all. 

Rev. Theodore Monod was called upon to speak in behalf of 
France ; but stated that lie wished to read, in the course of his 
remarks, a letter, which lie had not with him, and would prefer 
to speak to-morrow morning. This arrangement was agreed to 
by the Council. 

ADDRESS OF KEY. HENRY WILKES, D. D., OF MONTREAL, CANADA. 

Rev. Dr. Wilkes, being called upon, said : — 

I perceive, Mr. Moderator, that I have only seven minutes left before 



ADDRESS OF DR. WILKES. 77 

the hour fixed for the adjournment, and I shall therefore be brief. After 
the exjjression of the sentiments of my learned friends and brethren from 
the fatherland, the truth of which it was not at all necessary that I should 
endorse, because their own character is quite sufficient, I need not have 
said any thing upon that point; but I was at a meeting of the Congrega- 
tional IJnion in 1862, one year after the commencement of your struggle, 
at a time when in that country its success was by no means very prom- 
ising, e^en in the estimation of many among you; and I may perhaps 
venture to say, that at that time, mingling with my brethren there, and 
listening to them in their churches, in May, June, July, and August, 
1862, there was throughout the Congregational churches in England, — 
I am speaking of them, and not of the " Times " newspaper at all, for 
that is a very different thing, — I unhesitatingly say, that in all the Con- 
gregational churches in England, there was a deep, deep sympathy with 
this nation, and a sympathy upon the right side. I know that at that time 
the Union recommended that on the second Lord's day in June, there 
should be special i)rayer offered throughout the kingdom, and that spe- 
cial prayer was offered, not merely that the Lord would restore peace, 
but that the Lord would bless you in the great work in which -you were 
engaged in overthrowing that fearful system, as it has been so emphati- 
cally done to-day. 

Kow, sir, I come to Canada. Canada has been very unpopular with 
you, particularly during the last year. These raids have vexed you very 
much ; and I am not surjorised at it. But I am not to speak so much for 
Canada as for the Congregational churches of Canada. They are but a 
small band of churches, about ninety; but those churches, east and west, 
without a single exception, have been with yon most heartily and lov- 
ingly in the strife in which you have been engaged. [Applause.] 

To the proof, — for there is nothing like the proof. A newspaper, 
which has two or three times the circulation of any other in Montreal, 
is owned by a deacon of my church, and has a very powerful influence 
in that city and throughout a large part of the country. That paper 
has been uniformly, from the commencement of the strife until now, on 
the side of truth and righteousness, on the side of freedom, on the side 
of what we call the North. Another press in the city has opposed it 
most bitterly, — a press which has been fed, I suppose, and in part edited 
by Southern refugees who are in the city, who have doubtless awakened 
sympathy among certain classes in our community, and particularly 
with those who do not sympathise with us in our holy religion. You 
know we have something else in Canada. We have a Popish religion 
there. Protestantism is, I was going to say, an exotic with us. But 
not merely our own denomination, but the people generally holding Prot- 
estant views, are upon your side. 

It seems to be supposed, in many parts of your country, that because a 
police judge, who happens not to be a man qualified to declare upon inter- 
national law, makes a decision to release the raiders, and because there 
were hurras in the com't-room, Canada is responsible. I remember well 
the mourning and lamentation, when that decision was arrived at, among 



78 ORDER OF BUSINESS. 

the mercliants and other respectable men whom I met in the streets, 
who uniformly regarded it as a mistake, and about which they sincerely 
grieved. I think it is due to Canada to declare this honestly and openly. 
I have been there thirty years, and profess to know something about 
the feeling of that community. I met a man, and asked him, " Why 
don't you come to church? " " Why," said he, " you always pray for 
the United States." " Well," said I, " ought I not to pray for the United 
States? " " I can tell that you sympathize with the North, and I don't." 
And what I have done in my church is done by all my brethren. 

When that terrible thing occurred, the assassination of your noble 
President, I happened to be in Boston and Hartford at the time, and 
therefore could mingle with you in the very midst of your mourning ; but 
I know that our country was filled with distress, that our pulpits were 
draped, and that men of all denominations wept and prayed together, 
and prayed that God would have mercy, and overrule an event so fearful 
as this for good. They expressed an intense sympathy, from the very 
heart of hearts of the people, in this aflSiction, and an abhorrence and 
utter detestation against the act and those who applauded it. 

I will now close by saying, that I bring to you the fraternal congratu- 
lations, and the expression of the warm affection, of the churches, as rep- 
resented in our Congregational Union this week and last week. I left 
Toronto at half past five o'clock on Monday, when they were assembled, 
and they instructed me to express to you our most cordial affection. 
We have a feeling of oneness with you, — oneness in politics, oneness in 
the faith once delivered to the saints, oneness in the longing desire for 
the spread of the great principles of our holy religion throughout your 
land and ours. Having said this, I will retire, praying that all your 
deliberations may be under the divine guidance, and may be richly 
blessed by the Head of the church, for the welfare of his own kingdom, 
the glory of God, and blessings upon your country. [Applause.] 

Rev. Mr. Quint, of Massachusetts, chairman of the Business 
Committee, reported a recommendation of the order of business 
for to-morrow as follows : — 

That immediately after the address of Eev. Mr. Monod, the committee 
on Credentials have time to report, after which the papers prepared by 
the committees appomted by the conference in Kew York should be 
read in the following order : — 

1. Declaration of Christian faith. 

2. Statement of church polity. 

3. Evangelization in the West and South. 

4. Church-building. 

He reported, also, the following recommendations : — 

1. That the time from eleven, A. M., to half past eleven, A. M., be daily 
assigned to devotional exercises. 



MEMBEESHIP. 79 

2. That the contracts made by the Committee of Arrangements, with 
phonographic and other reporters, be ratified by the Council. 

3. That the reports originating with committees outside of the Council 
be referred to special committees immediately on their acceptance by 
the Council, and without debate on their merits; all debate to take place 
when these special committees report to the Council. 

The report was adopted. 

The hour of five o'clock having arrived, the Council ad- 
journed until to-morrow morning, under the rule. 

THIRD DAY, FRIDAY, JUNE 16. 

The Council was called to order and opened by prayer, at 9 
o'clock," A. M., by the moderator. 

The record of yesterday's proceedings was read by the scribe, 
Rev. Mr. Dexter, and approved. 

Rev. Dr. Patton, of Illinois, reported from the committee on 
Credentials a recommendation that all chairmen of committees 
directed to present special reports to the Council preparatory 
for business, by the preliminary meeting held in New York, 
but who are not members of the Council, be invited to sit as 
corresponding members. 

Rev. Dr. Harris, of Maine, moved to amend by inserting 
" members " instead of " chairmen." 

The amendment was seconded. 

Rev. Mr. Dexter moved to amend by including the commit- 
tee on Arrangements, and Dr. Harris accepted the amendment. 

The amendment, as amended, was agreed to. 

Rev. Dr. Patton, of Illinois, read the following paper : — 

" At the annual meeting of the General Association of Illinois, held at 
Peoria, 111., May, 1865, the following action was had, concerning the 
subject of church-building : — 

" ' Whereas, By an unintentional oversight, the preliminary conference 
at Kew York did not appoint a committee to report upon the topic of 
church-building, which had been adopted in the programme of subjects 
to be presented before the Boston Council; and 

" ' Wliereas, By the request of the nominating committee of the con- 
ference, through the secretary of the Congregational Union, Rev. J. E. 
Roy has prepared a report upon this enterprise: 

" ' Eesolved, That Brother Roy be requested to read the same before 
this association after the sermon, this (Thursday) evening.' 

" His essay having been read according to request, it was 

^ ' JResolved, That, in the omission of the preUminary conference to 



80 MEMBERSHIP. 

appoint a committee to report on the subject of church-building, Key. 
J. E. Roy be requested to proceed to Boston to lay before the i^ational 
Council, in the name of the General Association of Illinois, the paper he 
has just read.' 

" By order of the Association, 

" RiCHAKD C. Dunn, Scribe. 

" Peokia, May 27, 1865." 

It was moved farther to amend the report by including the 
name of Rev. J. E. Roy, of Illinois. 

Rev. Dr. Patton, of Illinois, said there would be no objection to that, 
although the language of the report was intended to include him. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. In regard to the statement just 
read, of the omission with regard to church-building, it strikes me as 
altogether a mistake. I think that the document prepared by Mr. Roy 
ought to be handed to some committee already appointed. 

Rev. Dr. Patton, of Illinois. As one of those who took action in 
Illinois, I would like to observe that we were informed that it was 
entirely by oversight that no special committee was appointed. ' The 
subject of church-building was separately named as one of the subjects 
to be brought before this body; and Brother Roy, being familiar with 
the whole subject, was desired, by request from the East, to prepare a 
document upon it. Allow me to observe, also, that any respectable 
body of Congregational ministers and laymen, in requesting a report to 
be presented to this body, stand perfectly upon a level with that jDrepar- 
atory conference in New York; for I take it upon me to say that 
that conference was not specially expected beforehand to appoint these 
committees, or to have these reports prepared, although the thing done 
may have been a wise thing in itself. But any other body of Congrega- 
tionalists had a perfect right to prepare a report on any subject to come 
before the Council, and this body has a perfect right to receive such 
report on a level with any other report from any quarter. We are a 
free body. Those preparatory committees are not committees of this 
body, but of the conference, and any other body may send reports 
here. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. All of which I acknowledge, ab 
imo pectore; but I say, that as a free body we have a right to say that 
the report of Mr. Roy shall come to us through the committee we have 
already recognized, upon evangelization in the West and South. 

Rev. Dr. Patton, of Illinois. That committee has not included it in 
their report, but have left it for Brother Roy to present. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. They can make this a part of their 
report. 

Rev. Mr. Quint, of Massachusetts, dissented from the view taken 
by the chairman of the committee, and maintained that no other body 
oould stand in the same relation to this Council as the preliminary 
conference in New York, and that the paper presented by Mr. Roy 



CREDENTIALS. 81 

could not be properly called a report. The paper ought to be received ; 
but the rules adopted by the convention provided for the case of such 
papers, and he desired that they be adhered to. 

Rev. Dr. Harris, of Maine, suggested that the pending question was 
not the disposition of the report, but whether Mr. Roy should have the 
privilege of a seat upon the floor, and of speaking in the Council. 

The motion was agreed to, and the report of the committee 
was adopted. 

Rev. Dr. Patton further reported : — 

That the committee had added to the roll such farther names as had 
been received since yesterday morning. 

Also, that application had been made to admit a delegate appointed by 
a church which was omitted from the letters missive sent to the neigh- 
boring chm'ches, and which thus had no opportunity to act with them in 
conference. The committee, acknowledging the injustice of the omis- 
sion, did not feel that it was within their province to attempt to rec- 
tify it, but reported the case for the action of the Council. 

Rev. Dr. Harris, of Maine, conceived it to be impossible for the Coun- 
cil to rectify the omission in this or in similar cases ; and therefore moved 
that the consideration of that part of the report be indefinitely post- 
poned. 

The motion was agreed to. 

Rev. Dr. Dutton, of Connecticut, under the impression that 
the matter was not fully understood by the Council, moved a 
reconsideration of the last vote. 

The Council refused to reconsider, by a vote, on division, of 
ayes 94 ; noes 126. 

Rev. Mr. Quint, from the committee on Business, made a re- 
port, recommending, — 

That to-morrow, June 17, be set apart as the time recommended by 
the preliminary committees as a special service of devotion for the 
acknowledgment of the marvelous and the merciful dealings of Almighty 
God with the nation in connection with the war, and for supplicating a 
gracious dispensation of the Spirit of God upon the land, that our re- 
stored national unity may be consecrated in righteousness, and in the 
peace and joy of the Holy Ghost; and that the invitation of the First 
Church in Charlestown, to hold service in their meeting-house on Har- 
vard Hill, be accepted, and that the Comicil meet there at three o'clock, 

p. 31. 

On motion of Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut, the report was re- 
ferred to the committee on devotional exercises. 

6 



82 invitation to visit plymouth. 

forefathers' rock. 

Rev. A. L. Stone, D. d., of Massachusetts, chairman of the 
Committee of Arrangements, extended an invitation to members 
of the Council to visit in a body the Forefathers' Rock at Plym- 
outh, free of all charge, and participate in a collation there to 
be provided. 

He thought such an excursion would be no mean element in 
the history of the Council. Arrangements would also be made 
by which others could participate in the trip at a small ex- 
pense. The day of the excursion would be fixed hereafter, but 
could not well be before Thursday of next week. 

Rev. Dr. Todd, of Massachusetts, moved to accept the invita- 
tion. 

Rev. Dr. Thompson, of Kew York, expressed his hearty sympathy 
with the proposition, and hoped it would be possible to comply with the 
arrangement, but called attention to the great amount of business to be 
done, and thought it better to carry out Plymouth-Rock principles, upon 
which all could unite, than to visit the Rock itself, where no two men 
could stand at the same time. [Laughter.] 

Rev. Dr. Adams, of Maine, was fully persuaded that the work of the 
convention would not be hindered by taking next Thursday for such 
an excursion. 

The motion to accept the invitation was agreed to. 

Rev. Mr. Byington, of Vermont, stated that Cov. Smith of 
Vermont, in consequence of illness, would be unable to perform 
his duties on the committee on Nominations, and wished to be 
excused from further service upon that committee ; and nomi- 
nated Rev. Clark E. Ferrin, of Vermont, to take his place. 

The motion to excuse Gov. Smith, and appoint Rev. Mr. 
Ferrin, was agreed to. 

Rev. Mr. Langworthy, of Massachusetts, moved that a com- 
mittee be appointed to prepare resolutions in reference to the 
condition of the country, and to report the same for the action 
of the Council. 

The motion was agreed to. 

On motion, at the suggestion of the chairman of the commit- 
tee on Nominations, the rule of the Council, limiting the 
number to be appointed upon committees to three, was modi- 
fied, so as to allow the committee to appoint in each case such 
number as in their judgment seemed best. 



ADDRESS OF MR. MONOD. 83 

The orders of the day were called for, the preliminary busi- 
ness having been completed ; the first of which was the address 
of Eev. Mr, Monod. 

ADDRESS OF REY. THEODORE MONOD, OF PARIS, FRANCE. 

Rev. Mr. Monod, having been called upon, in pursuance of 
the order of yesterday, said, — 

Mr. Moderator, Christian Fathers and Brethren, — If I were in Paris 
to-day, I would wish I was in Boston; and wherever I might be, in the 
Old World or the New, to-day, I would wish I was in Boston. It is to 
me a pleasure I cannot express, and something more than a pleasure, 
for there is a solemn feeling about it, to find myself before such an 
assembly at such a time. It is well understood, here at least, that Amer- 
ica, now-a-days, is in the vanguard of the world. It is equally well 
understood that ]Srew England is in the vanguard of America; and I ven- 
ture to say that such a body of ministers and laymen as this is in the 
vanguard of i^ew England. I therefore feel that I am now standing 
before the very first ranks in the great army of liberty and of progress 
and of Christ. 

When I think of this, I can hardly believe that I myself, who am not 
old, was in this country at a time that seems now to be about as far 
behind us as the Crusades, — it was in 1859, when the South was 
ready to claim any thing, and when the i^orth seemed to be ready to give 
up any thing; and when it appeared to be generally admitted that every 
white man had an equal right to the pursuit of happiness and of runaway 
negroes. [Laughter and applause.] 

All that is now behind us. You have now proved to the world that you 
are a nation, and not a kind of town-meeting. You have proved to the 
world that you could get rid of slavery; or rather, God has proved that 
he could sweep it out of the land; and you have proved to the world 
that a democratic government " is as good as another, and a great deal 
better too." [Applause.] 

I bring to you the congratulations of the Union of Evangelical Churches 
in France. That body was formed sixteen years ago. Before that, 
there were in France a few free churches, scattered here and there ; but 
there was no bond of union between them. In 1849, when Frederic Mo- 
nod, my father, with Count Agenor de Gasparin, pastor Armand Delille, 
and some others, left the established church of France, they at once set 
to work to organize, not exactly into one body, certainly not into one 
church, but into one union, those scattered free churches. They invited 
them to send representatives to Paris, which they did; and thus was 
formed what we called the constituting synod. That synod voted for a 
constitution, which was sent to the churches; and. now most of the free 
churches in France have accepted that constitution, and belong to that 
union. That body does not bear the name of Congregationalist; neither 



84 ADDRESS OF MR. MONOD. 

does it bear the name of Presbyterian. It is not strictly the one nor the 
other ; yet it is nearer Congregationalism than any thing else. This is 
its first article : — 

" The evangelical churches in France, composed of members who have 
explicitly and individually professed their faith, and who recognize in 
religious matters no other authority than that of Christ, the only and 
sovereign Head of the church, associate with one another to glorify 
God, by manifesting the union of his children, to labor in common for 
the edification of the body of Christ, and to unite their efforts for the 
extension of the kingdom of God." 

The distinctive feature of difierence between them and your churches 
is, that they have, every other year, what they call a synod, composed 
of representatives from the churches, whose decisions are accepted by 
the churches. If a church does not accept its decisions, then it ceases 
to belong to the body. I may say here, that, when we in France look 
back to the fathers to know what " the old paths " were, we receive for an 
answer, PreshyteHanism: our history, our traditions, point us to that 
form of church polity. And as to the future, even if we could to-day 
have the whole of the French Protestants organized into separate 
churches, and if you were there in France, I am persuaded that, looking 
at the condition of the people, at their habits of mind and of action, you 
would come to the conclusion that they can not have there and now ex- 
actly the system that you have here in Kew England. I know that 
some people say that if a man wants to learn to swim, he must not be 
afraid to jump into the water ; and that we shall never learn self-govern- 
ment, without any central authority, unless we try it. But it takes some 
education to come to that point. If you saw a man who did not know 
at all how to swim, and who, beside, had considerable stiffiiess in all his 
joints, you would not throw him into the water before you had taken 
time to get his hmbs a little more supple. 

From these churches, I bring you most hearty congratulations. I 
bring them to every evangelical church in America. I have had the 
privilege of bearmg them myself to the General Assembly in Pittsbm-g, 
to that in Brooklyn, to the General Synod in 'New Brunswick, and now 
I bear them to you; and I do so with special pleasure, because I know 
that you feel, and you deserve to feel, a special happiness in the great 
joy of the nation, because it is the consummation of the great work up- 
on which you have set your hearts from the beginning, and to which 
you have adhered, not only of late, but when it was a work attended 
with great diflaculty and with much obloquy; and therefore we congrat- 
ulate you first and most of all. 

And now, about our feeling toward you during the war, I can only 
say of our churches what some of the brethren" yesterday said of theirs, 
that, whatever may have been the feeling of others, the feeling of 
Protestant France was with you almost altogether. And, when I come to 
the free churches, I can take the " almost" away; for the free churches, 
as far as known to me, were with you, to a man, to a woman, to a child. 
As to the general feeling in France, even that was better than you prob- 



ADDRESS OF MR. MONOD. 85 

ably think, and I will touch upon the point presently. In our churches, 
I repeat it, the feeling has been thoroughly for you, from the beginning, 
before the beginning, and all the way through. 

In 1861, where did that movement come from, that brought you a let- 
ter of cheer and of sympathy in yom* darkest hour? It originated with 
us, — with three hundred French Protestant pastors. Then it went over 
into England, and received four thousand signatures there; and then Dr. 
Massie brought it over to you. When any proclamation came from 
President Lincoln, it was always put into our religious newspapers; and 
I had almost said that there was hardly any thing in those pai)ers that 
was more religious, and did us more good. "We were so well acquainted 
with him, that one lady who did not know him personally, and had 
never come to this country, said to me, speaking of his death, " Some- 
how this Lincoln seemed to belong to us." When a day of fasting and 
prayer was appointed here in lS63, we gave notice in our Protestant 
papers, at least in one of the oldest of them, requesting Protestant 
Christians to unite with you in their families upon that day, in special 
prayer for you and your country. During the last Presidential cam- 
paign, we were waiting for the news, as they that watch for the morn- 
ing; and there was great rejoicing among us when the news did come. 
And when the news of the fall of Kichmond came, your friends there did 
not know what to do with themselves. One pastor, instead of following 
the plan he had laid out for himself that afternoon, went to the next tel- 
egraphic station, and sent to Dr. Sunderland a dispatch which embodied 
the feelings of us all: — " Glory to God, and three cheers for the Union." 
[Applause.] And, as I told them in Brooklyn the other day, there was 
a young physician in Paris, a Frenchman and a Protestant, who when 
he got the news, felt he must shake hands with an American, in fact, that 
he must kiss an American ; and, as he could not find an American to 
kiss, he kissed me as the next best thing. [Applause and laughter.] 

I am very thankful to you, gentlemen, for the sympathy you express; 
and it brings me to the next point. We can not make so much noise as 
that in our synod, because we are not so numerous; but we did make all 
the noise we could when Dr. Cleaveland spoke to us last Il^ovember about 
the war — how it was going on and what would be the end of it. We are 
not in the habit of apjDlauding ; but we did applaud then, and stamped 
too, and did every thing in our power to express our sympathy. 

If you want to know the feeling of France in 1862 and 1863, ask 
those who were among us then; ask Mr. Cuyler, — you know him well, 
though he is a Presbyterian; or ask Mr, Woodruff or Mr. Beecher; and 
they can tell you what were the prayers in our families, and what were 
the prayers from om- pulpits, during that time. It can all be embodied 
in this fact, that our representative man in the matter is Count de Gas- 
l^arin. 

Kow I have a letter to read to you. I am sorry to take up your time, 
but you must remember that there is only one delegate from France: 
now suppose there were three, I will only take up as much time as two 
of them. The letter comes from the General Conference of Protestant 



86 ADDKESS or MR. MONOU. 

Pastors, that takes place in Paris every year, during the week of the 
anniversaries of our religious societies, in May or June. At those 
conferences, every shade of Protestantism is represented. You find 7 

there the Established Church Reformed, the Established Church Lu- 
theran, and both parties in those churches, — the evangelical, and also 
those who call themselves the liberal party. Furthermore, you find 
there the Methodist Church and the Baptist Church. All are represented 
there. In their meeting this year (and first in the conference special to 
the established churches), several letters were unanimously voted: one 
to the American people, one to Mrs. Lincoln, one (by the General 
Conference) to the ministers of the gospel in the United States. The 
latter, I will read entire; of the former, I will give only a few extracts, 
the sentiments being substantially the same in them all. Eirst, from the 
letter to Mrs. Lincoln. Speaking of the assassination, it says : — 

" That horror was still wanting to slavery, that consecration to vic- 
tory, that halo to the brow of the defender of liberty. We will not seek, 
madam, to comfort you by the thought of the glory now attached to the 
name of your husband, whom future generations will place, as we do 
now, among the benefactors of mankind. But directing your thoughts 
and ours higher still, we will adore the mysterious will of G-od, who has 
been pleased to make Abraham Lincoln one of those mighty workers 
whom he uses for the fulfillment of his purposes, and who has allowed 
him to be called from us, after the labors and sorrows of the conflict. 
"We sympathize, from the depths of our heart, with your grief, which is 

not only a national grief, but one which reaches all humanity We 

hope that the indignation excited by that abominable crime will not 
alter in any thing the thoughts of charity that were to crown the work 
of freedom." 

Again, one of the committees of the French Evangelical Alliance 
addressed a letter to President Johnson, from which I will read only 
two lines : — 

" The gospel makes it our duty, Mr. President, to pray for princes, 
and, for those who have authority over the people: we will not forget 
that duty toward the present President of the United States." 

Mr. Bigelow, your minister to France, acknowledged the reception of 
that letter as follows: — 

♦' Legation of the United States, Pabis, May 1st, 1865. 

" To Rev. M. S. Descombay, President of the 

Evangelical Alliance of Lyons. 
Mr. President, — I have received your touching and sympathetic 
address to the President of the United States, and I will, with painful 
satisfaction, transmit it to him. The horrible crime that has called him 
to succeed to the first martyr in the list of our presidents, will make him 
peculiarly thankful for your sympathies and your prayers. The pro- 
found emotion that our national grief has created everywhere, and 
particularly in France, shows that the assassin who has deprived us 
of the precious counsels of President Lincoln has given him the immor- 



ADDRESS OF MR. MONOD. 87 

tality of the martyr, and has illumined with fadeless light that rare 
example of courage and of Christian patriotism. 

" Be pleased, sir, to receive for yourself and your reverend colleagues, 
the assm-ance of my profound veneration. 

"John Bigelow." 

I now come to the letter which is directed to you, and which I there- 
fore must read to you. I received the paper containing it on the very 
day when I left JS'ew York for Boston. By the way, I do not know 
whether it is proper for an editor to say any thing about his paper; hut 
this is the oldest paper in France. It is now in its forty-eighth year. 
It was edited by my father for about forty-two years; and now my 
colleague, M. Duchemin, and myself, are editing it. It is a weekly 
paper, called the " Archives du Christianisme au Dix-neuvieme Siecle." 
This number also contains a letter from our General Pastoral Confer- 
ence, to all the Protestant ministers in Prance, and in countries where 
the Prench language is spoken. The object of the letter is to urge 
them to labor in behalf of the freedmen. Let me give you a few 
extracts: — 

" Dear brethren, two years ago, seven or eight hundred Prench 
pastors, of every denomination, signed a letter addressed to all the 
pastors in Pngland, in favor of the triumph of the holy cause of emanci- 
pation in the United States. That letter received an answer signed by 
four thousand English pastors, — magnificent echo of our appeal. Both 
letters were carried to the United States by Dr. Massie, secretary of the 
Emancipation Society in London, and were read in Washington by Dr. 
Sunderland, chaplain of Congress, before a large assembly, by which 
they were received with enthusiasm. The wish we then expressed is 
now fulfilled." 

The letter then goes on to show what has been efiected for the aboli- 
tion of slavery, what are the present necessities of the freedmen, and 
what the American government and the American people are doing for 
them. They conclude as follows : — 

" Our brethren in America have come to sohcit their friends in Europe 
to give them some assistance in that gigantic work of charity, such as 
does not present itself twice in a century. They say to us : ' You have 
justly reproached us for slavery, and the sufferings of these people ; you 
have prayed for their emancipation. Now that we have broken their 
fetters, or rather now that God has answered you, and has dehvered 
them, chastising us as we deserved, will you not help us to save them 
from death, to form them for liberty, for civihzation, to make them 
citizens and Christians? The work will not be long, so great is their 
zeal to work as freemen and support themselves, and, we might add, so 
great is the ardor of many of them to be instructed in the knowledge of 
salvation. We must help them through the terrible crisis through 
which God leads them and our whole nation, to create a new people, 



88 



ADDRESS OF MR. MONOD. 



where there shall be neither white nor black, but one family of fellow 
citizens and brethren, presenting to the world the spectacle of one of the 
most magnificent reparations that it has ever witnessed.' 

" Dear brethren, let us hearken to those moving appeals, and invite 
every one of our churches, and every one of our parishioners, to help, 
according to their ability, those four millions of slaves, whose tears and 
blood have so long ministered to the sustenance and to the opulence of 
Europe. May the God who delivered Israel from bondage, and who 
gave his Son to abolish, with the servitude of sin, every other servitude, 
unite in that labor of love the nearts and hands of all our churches." 

Collections for that purpose are doubtless going on in our churches at 
this time. The funds will be forwarded through those societies that 
have sent delegates to us,— the National Freedmen's Eelief Association, 
in New York, and the Western Freedmen's Aid Society, in Cincinnati. 

It is time that I should read the letter addressed to yourselves. 

" To THE Pastors and Ministers of the Gospel 

OF eyery Denomination in the United States. 

" Paris, May 2, 1865. 

" Brethren in the Faith of the Lord Jesus, and in the Ministry of the 
Gospel, — A meeting of some two hundred pastors, ministers, and elders, 
or active members of Protestant churches from every part of France, 
and, together with them, pastors and elders from Belgium, Switzerland, 
and other countries, feel constrained to express to you their deep and 
ardent sympathy. That sympathy, three days ago, would have been 
one of gratitude to God and of holy joy: to-day, it is also one of grief, 
and almost of stupor. 

" We were praising God for the progress of the great cause of the 
emancipation of the slaves in the United States, and we were giving 
thanks to him for the powerful help that the Christian pulpit in America 
has given to that work, — precious answer to om- prayers for the Amer- 
ican churches and their pastors ! — when the fearful news reached us of 
the assassination of Lincoln, that noble emancipator of the slaves. It 
seems as though it had been God's purpose to seal with that precious 
blood, as with that of a martyr, the victory of the cause for which he 
fought and sufiered. With you, with the whole world, we weep over 
the loss of that great man and that great Christian. But, while weeping, 
we remember the beautifal words he spoke on the day of his second 
inaugural, and that expressed with so much force and simplicity his 
confidence in God. We render thanks to God for the admirable work 
that it was given to Abraham Lincoln to accomplish in four years ; and 
we ask and expect comfort from on high for his widow, for his family, 
for the people who had known how to select such a man and to place 
him at their head, for the churches and pastors who had part in that 
choice, and who gave him the support of the sanctuary in the fulfillment 
of his providential task. 



ADDRESS OF MR. MONOD. 89 

, " In the name of the General Conference of Protestant pastors, elders, 
and laborers for the gospel, met together in Paris. 

M. M. Yaurigaud, Pastor at Nantes (Reformed church), President 
FisCH, Pastor at Paiis (Free church), Vice-President. 
Vallette, Pastor at Paris (Lutheran church). 
MoKTANDOx, Pastor at Paris. 
GuiLLAUME MoNOD, Pastor at Paris." 

I shall be most happy to tell them that that letter of theirs was deliv- 
ered directly to yon on this day. 

Ton will have perceived in this letter, and also in the letter of the 
Prench Emancipation Society to President Johnson, published a few 
days ago, and bearing the names of M. Gnizot, M. Laboulaye, Prince 
de Broglie, and others, something said about the strong desire in Prance 
that the President's death should alter in no respect his purposes of 
charity. I am well aware that it would be utterly out of place for me to 
say any thing to you looking at all like counsel on a subject which is 
emphatically your own business; but I also feel that I should not be 
doing my duty toward the churches that have sent me, nor toward you, 
if I did not tell you, as a matter of fact, how they feel on that important 
matter. They have a right to expect me to state it, and you have a 

right to expect it of me As a matter of fact, the Protestants of 

Prance, all of them, and perhaps your best friends more than any others, 
and the whole liberal party of France, will not lift so much as a finger 
in the way of expostulation or of blame, if every man who can be proved 
to have aided and abetted assassination in any shape — assassination 
by the bullet, assassination by the yellow fever, or assassination by 
starvation — shall sufifer the utmost penalty of the law. [Applause.] 
But if any man or men should be proven guilty of no other crime than 
that of having rebelled against the government, and having endeavored 
to set up an independent government for themselves, and if for that 
crime only, he or they should be put to death, it would be a matter of 
deep regret to your friends in Prance, and, I think I may say, to your 
friends in Europe everywhere. The penalty of death for such offenses 
has been abolished in Prance. We do not wish to see it established in 
America. Besides, it would put into the hands of every despot, who is 
threatened with any thing like a popular movement against him, a dread- 
ful arm, enabling him to look to America for a pattern in dealing with 
those who may oppose his government. On the other hand, if, under such 
provocation as you have suffered, and such sacrifices as you have under- 
gone, you should still deem it compatible with the present dignity and 
with the future safety of the nation (I do not enter into that question) 
not to execute the sentence pronounced upon men as guilty of treason, 
such an exhibition of clemency would be looked upon as highly honor- 
able to democracy and as an example to all governments. 

Now I come' to the point of the feeling in Prance outside of our 
churches. I know that there are some in this coimtry who are ready to 
interpret our felicitations somewhat after thiswise: "Seeing that you 



90 ADDRESS OF MR. MONOD. 

have the best of it, we congratulate you; if you had the worst of it, we 
would congratulate ourselves." That is not so. It may have been so 
with the government. You must distinguish between the government, 
with the circle around it, and France. They are not the same thing, — • 
not at all. [Applause.] The last time our Emperor wrote to the legis- 
lative body, he spoke about things all round the world ; but somehow it 
quite escaped him that there was such a place as the United States of 
America. He did not utter one syllable about them. Well, we said 
nothing ; we never say anything. [Applause.] But we supposed that very 
likely the government was like the dustman's parrot, that he wanted 
to sell: "It does not speak much, but it keeps up a heap of think- 
ing." What it was thinking about, I do not know; perhaps Maximilian 
knows. 

But as to the sentiments of our people. I wish I could do now what 
I did a few days ago in 'New York, at a special meeting for the purpose, 
reading extracts from our leading periodicals during the last four years, 
on American affairs. I can only sum up the matter in a few words. 
The paper which has the largest circulation in France is the Siede; that 
has always been for you. Then there is the Temps, another daily paper, 
which has been for you all the while. Then there is the Journal des Be- 
hats, which goes among the more refined and cultivated portion of society. 
That has constantly been for you also. The Opinion Rationale, the 
Presse, and the Courier du Dimanche are for you. I speak only of the 
Parisian newspapers. There have been some against you, it is true. 
There is the Pays, and the Patrie, and the '■'- Daily News'''' — no, that 
was on this side. [Great laughter and applause.] Well, I was saying that 
we had some papers that opposed the Union cause : I might name others, — 
the Constitutionnel, the Moniteur. The government party, of course, was 
against you; and there were some whose pecuniary interests were upon 
the Southern side, who leaned that way. Then, again, we had those who 
thought the cause of the North was good, but could never be successful; 
they forgot that " what is impossible with man is possible with God." 

Kow, if I come to our reviews, you will find them strongly on your 
side. The Bevue Rationale, — I will not say anything about that, except 
that Edward Laboulaye writes for it constantly; the Bevue des Deux 
Mondes, which is known the world over, was for you. I wish to read 
you a paragraph from its pages in a few moments. The Bevue Chre- 
tienne, our Protestant review, has been for you as much as the " Inde- 
pendent," could be. The Correspondant, a Catholic but liberal review, 
was for you. In fact, I believe that every paper read by the more 
intelligent classes, and edited by the ablest men, was for you all the 
while. 

That was all we could do, — talk about it, and write about it, gently 
enough, so as not to provoke the government, and especially pray about 
it. As to doing any thing else ; as to advertising it in the streets and 
getting up a little demonstration, I would like to see you come over and 
try it. [Laughter and applause.] Why, the other day, they would not 
let twelve hundred young men go to Mr. Bigelow's to express their 



ADDRESS OF MR. MONOD. 91 

sympatMes upon the occasion of the death of Lincoln. It would not 
do. 

I said I would read you one extract. I do not take it from the Bevue 
Rationale: that was too thoroughly on your side, and its opinion would 
therefore not have so much weight for my present purpose ; but there is 
an article from the pen of M. Auguste L angel, in the Bevue des Deux 
Mondes, — our leading review, — that does not publish any thing unless 
it is pretty certain to meet with acceptance. The article is dated Octo- 
ber, 1863:— 

" The civil war in the United States will take its place in history as 
one of the greatest events of the 19th century: for it is not only a war; 
it is a revolution. Whatever Lord Kussell may have said, if the South 
fights for " independence," the ]S'orth does not fight for " empire," in this 
sense, that it does not fight for provinces, for frontiers, for military posi- 
tions ; it fights for the principles that in less than a century have made a na- 
tion on the other side of the Atlantic, and have carried it to a degree of 
prosperity unheard of ; it fights for its laws, for its constitution, and, it 
may be said without exaggeration, for its very existence ; for democratic 
government becomes impossible when minorities cease to accept the will 
of majorities, and when majorities are no longer able to make their sov- 
ereignty respected. * * * * •* * * 
" The friends of human liberty have reason to congratulate themselves on 
the political results of the war in the United States ; and would do wrong 
if they took an exaggerated view of the perils of the future. Liberty will 
heal the wounds made by slavery; a democracy that has displayed such 
energy, such resources, such patriotism, such intelligence, will not let 
the work of the last two years be lost, and will secure itself against the 
return of a revolutionary crisis. The hostilities can not end by simple 
treaties of peace; they must end in acts that consecrate the final ruin of 
slavery : but let not the States now most favorable to that institution be 
alarmed at such a result, for the ruin of slavery will be to them the 
beginning of a new life." 

This was written, remember, in 1863. 

I can not express to you the feeling at the death of your President. It 
was a sudden blow and a dreadful one. It came to us in the evening 
papers, just as we were on our way to the annual meeting of the Evan- 
gelical Society. I did not see the paper myself, but learned the news 
from the lips of a friend ; and such was the expression on his face when 
he came to me with the intelligence, that I thought that perhaps some 
near relative had died. We could not believe the news till it was con- 
firmed; and the sorrow was greater on the second day than on the first. 
That sorrow was all over our land, and all over Europe. You may see 
in this week's " Independent," an account of the feeling in Prussia. I 
received a letter a few days ago from a brother of mine, who, although 
the subject was no longer new, speaks of it again in the most afiecting 
terms, speaks of the sorrow all over Europe, and ends with the remark, 
*' There is yet hope for the nations that can find tears over the grave of 
Abraham Lincoln." [Applause.] 



92 ADDRESS OF MR. MONOD. 

Let me tell you a word said about Lincoln that probably has not been 
published, and that may interest you. It comes from M. Cochin, who 
is a member of our French Academy, and one of our most able men, and 
a faithful, serious, and earnest man, belonging to the Eoman Catholic 
Church. He has published a book on the results of the emancipation of 
slaves everywhere. It was my privilege to be present at a meeting, 
held a few weeks ago, in M. Laboulaye's house, to organize a French 
Emancipation Society for the relief of your freedmen. M. Cochin said 
we must do all we can at once, using our means, our pens, our tongues, 
because wherever the work of emancipation has been done, it has hardly 
been accomplished before there were people ready on every side to 
prove that it would have been .better that it had not been done, for the 
emancipated people were better off before they were freed. Kow we 
must go to work and help the American people to disprove, here and 
everywhere, those statements. And about President Lincoln, he spoke 
in these terms (we had not then heard of his death) : " I propose, " 
he said, " that we should send a letter to that great man, that honest 
great man, who, in the highest station that the world could give him, 
not only did not lose his mind, but lost nothing of his heart." [Applause.] 

And now I only want to call your attention to one fact ; which is, that 
what you are doing here, while it will exert a great influence on your own 
country, does not concern your people only, but concerns the world. 'No 
man liveth for himself, and no nation liveth for itself, and yours least of 
all. Europe is turned toward you now. There was a time when Amer- 
ican affairs were of little interest in Europe. Such is not the case now. 
"What has taken place here has riveted our attention. It is a little the 
fault, too, of our government. They have kept telling us for the last four 
years, " Look over there to America, if you want to see the effects of a 
democratic government; look at their fighting; how awful it is; and 
look at their anarchy." Just as the old Spartans got a man intoxicated, 
and told the children to look at him and take warning; so our govern- 
ment told us to look over here. And we did look; and what did we see? 
"We saw that you could raise armies, and make war, and furthermore 
that you could win. We saw that you could have great generals, and 
that you could show such a spirit of patriotism and self-sacrifice as was 
unheard of before. We saw that you were one nation, with one heart. 
W« saw that you could be guided by a President who defended liberty 
and union at the same time ; who allowed such an amount of freedom 
against him and his administration, at his very doors, as would not have 
been tolerated in any other land; and yet in spite of it the good cause 
went forward. We saw that that man was re-elected in the very midst 
of the war. We saw, at last, your courage and perseverance crowned 
with success. We saw that after the foulest murder ever committed had 
plunged your country into the depths of sorrow, your government was 
unmoved, unshaken. We looked, and saw all this, and we mean to keep 
looking. But now the government says, " What are you looking over 
therefor? Look at home." [Laughter and applause.] The Emperor's 
cousin looks, and says, " I declare, that is a grand sight;" whereupon 



ADDRESS OF MR. MONOD. 93 

the Emperor says to him, " I declare, you had better hold your tongue." 
[Eenewed laughter.] 

JSTow that you are (I was about to say whether you will or no, but I 
think you are willing enough) occupying such a position, you have and 
will have a growing influence upon Europe. You will have an influence 
upon your Protestant brethren in France. I can not allow myself now to 
speak to you of the state of religion in France, though my heart is full 
of the subject. I hope that I may have an ojDportunity, before your 
session closes, of making some statements on that topic in a special 
meeting; for I am also delegated by the Evangelical Society, the domestic 
missionary society of our free churches. But let me tell you that our 
principles are growing every year, every week, every day. The jDrinciple 
of the separation of church and state — and I must say a word upon 
that point, for Dr. Yaughan announced to you yesterday that I would — 
is in France the order of the day, with three diflerent parties, — the Prot- 
estants, the Cathohcs, and the Philosophers. Of course, in each camp 
there are two sides ; but the battle is fbught in every one of these three 
camps. 

As to the Protestants, we have the free churches upon one- side, M. 
de Pressense, carr3dng out the teachings of Yinet^ his master. Then 
there is in the national church, a considerable party of evangelical men, 
who see, with increasiiig clearness, that the only remedy for their 
troubles is to cut themselves aloof from the state. Again, in tha-t same 
established church, you have those among the evangelicals who do not 
wish for the separation of church and state, because they are afraid for 
the church; they think it needs the protection of the state; they are 
attached to the existing state of things, and unwilling to alter it. The 
position of the Liberals is singular, and well vrorth mentioning. You 
would think that they who called themselves Liberals, — who want every 
man to preach in our pulpits whatever he pleases, so much so that the 
evangelicals had to discuss with them the question whether any man has 
such a right or not, that the men who insist upon it that there must be 
no general synod of the church, would all be for perfect independence 
and for separation; but they insist upon it, though in a somewhat 
embarrassed manner, that they do not want the church to be separated 
from the state. They know, if there should be a separation, the Liberals 
would immediately find themselves separated from the Evangelicals, 
thus losing much of their influen(?e, and having to organize a chm'ch of 
their own, standing upon its own merits, and supported by their own 
people ; and that is what they do not want. 

Among the Catholics, there is, of course, a strong party against the 
separation of church and state ; and it is represented by the ultra-mou- 
tanists, who would hke the church to swallow the state. Then there is 
another party, headed by Cochin and others, who think that the Eomaii 
Cathohc Church would have more prosperity if it had more liberty. 

And finally, among the Philosophers, there are those, with M. La- 
boulaye at their head, — I call him a philosopher although he is also a 
Catholic, — a serious, earnest man, and I think an honest believer in 



94 ADDRESS OF MR- THOMAS. 

Christianity, who are for the separation of church and state. The 
Temps^ a very able, though unfortunately not a Christian paper, is very 
strongly on that side. Finally, we have a democratic school, of a 
peculiar kind, in which the Opinion NoMonale is the chief exponent. 
They want freedom for everybody, except for those whom they consider 
as the enemies of Uberty, for instance the Eoman Catholic Church. They 
want them to be supervised and restrained. Others do not want the 
church to be separated from the state, because they are afraid for the 
church; but these men do not want it, because they are afraid for the 
state. That is, as you well know, neither true religion nor true de- 
mocracy. 

But we shall come to the point when every man will wish for separa- 
tion between the churches and the state, with perfect freedom for the 
churches, and perfect freedom for the state. 

Now I have only to thank you for your attention and sympathy, to 
beg you to excuse the time I have consumed, and to express my earnest 
desire and prayer that G-od's spirit may rest upon you, and upon all that 
you may do during your sessions, and upon your beloved country, that I 
love as my own. While the eyes of the world are fixed upon you, let 
your eyes be fixed upon Christ, and all will be well. [Applause.] 



Kev. Dr. Thompson stated that upon consultation with the Welsh 
^legation, three in number, it had 1 
Thomas should respond in their behalf. 



delegation, three in number, it had been determined that Rev. Dr. 



ADDRESS OF REY. J0HI!T THOMAS, D. D. 

E,ev. Dr. Thomas, of Liverpool, England, said : — 

I shall detain the meeting but a very few moments. The Welsh 
churches are so well represented here by the deputation from the 
Congregational Union of England and Wales, headed by the venerable 
Dr. Yaughan, whom we claim as a Welshman, that it may appear very 
unnecessary for us to stand before this great convention as a distinct 
deputation. But, sir, the Welsh people are a peculiar peo^Dle. We live 
in a peculiar country. We speak a peculiar language. We possess a 
peculiar warmth of feeling, which no English deputation can properly 
represent. [Applause.] We have in connection with our body, in the 
principality of Wales, 802 churches, 40^ ministers, about 95,000 commu- 
nicants, upwards of 100,000 hearers, and 86,000 Sunday-school scholars. 
In the document read by Dr. Thompson yesterday, you can learn the 
feeling of the Welsh Congregational Churches as a body. I may say a 
word as regards, not only the Congregationalists in Wales, but the 
Welsh people generally. Our sympathy was entirely with you in all your 
troubles. Hundreds of young Welshmen died bravely upon your battle- 
fields. We have mothers in Wales, sorrowing for their sons. And I 
can add that the Welsh press — quarterlies, monthlies, and weeklies — 
was entirely upon your side. Not a single quarterly, or monthly, or 
weekly paper dared to side with the rebellion. [Applause.] It is true 



DECLARATION OF FAITH. 95 

that some did not approve of your proceedings ; but as to the rebellion, 
they had no sympathy with it, and they denounced the curse of slavery 
in the strongest language. I bring to this convention to-day the best 
wishes of the Welsh people generally; and you will allow me to say in 
conclusion, in the language of my own countrymen: — 

" Dymunwch heddwch Jerusalem Uwydded y rhai ath hoffant. 
Heddwch fyddo ofewn dy ragfur a ffyniant yr dy balasan. Er mwyn 
fy mrodyr am cyfeillion y dywedaf yr awr heddwch fyddo i ti. Er 
mwyn ty yr Arglwydd rin Duw yeisiaf i ti ddaione." 

\_Translation. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper 
that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy 
palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, peace 
be with thee. Because of the Lord thy God, I will seek thy good."] 

Eev. Henry Ward Beecher, of New York, in behalf of the 
Business Committee, presented the following resolution : — 

" Whereas the attitude of various religious bodies in Europe toward 
the United States during the past five years requires a careful discrim- 
ination and statement, — 

" Mesolved^ That a committee of five be appointed to prepare a suita- 
ble reply from this Council to the delegates from foreign bodies who 
have been heard before it." 

Mr. Beecher said : If our cause has been a cause involving every mor- 
al principle which the world has wrought out since the coming of Christ, — 
and we hold that it is, — then the attitudes of prominent Christian bodies 
in regard to this matter are not insignificant. They reach very far in 
toward fundamental questions. , If they have been right, it is a matter 
of signal gratitude; and, if they have been wrong, it is an instance of the 
inability of good men to form a sound moral judgment upon facts patent 
to all the world, which we are not at liberty ourselves to pass by or to 
hoodwink in any way. It seems to me, therefore, that respect to our- 
selves not alone, but the duties which we owe to the cause of Christ, 
requires that any reply made should be made considerately, Christianly, 
and discriminately ; and that therefore a committee of this kind would 
far better answer the ends of love and justice than any possible extem- 
porized reply. 

The resolution was agreed to. 

DECLARATIOIT OF FAITH. 

Rev. Dr. Thompson, of New York, in behalf of the commit- 
tee, read the following paper : — 

The committee appointed by the preliminary conference to prepare a 
Declaration of Faith, to be submitted to the Council, respectfully re- 
port: — 



96 DECLARATION OF FAITH. 

That, in the light of the discussions of that conference upon the expe- 
diency of such a Declaration, and also of the general principles of our 
polity, they could not regard it as their function to prepare a Confession 
of Faith to be imposed by act of this, or of any other body, upon the 
churches of the Congregational order. " It was the glory of our fathers, 
that they heartily professed the only rule of their religion, from the very 
first, to be the Holy Scriptures ; " ^ and particular churches have always 
exercised their liberty in " confessions drawn up in their own forms."^ "^ 
And such has been the accord of these particular confessions, one with 
another, and with the Scriptures, that we may to-day repeat, with thank- 
fulness, the words of the fathers of the Savoy Confession, two centuries 
ago; while "from the first, every, or at least the generality of our 
churches, have been, in a manner, like so many ships, — though holding 
forth the same general colors, — launched singly, and saihng apart and 
alone in the vast ocean of these tumultuous times, and have been exposed 
to ' every wind of doctrine,' under no other conduct than the Word of the 

Spirit," yet " let all acknowledge that G-od hath ordered it for 

his high and greater glory, in that his singular care and power should 
have so watched over each of these, as that all should be found to have 
steered their course by the same chart, and to have been bound for one 
and the same port; and that the same holy and blessed truths of all 
sorts, which are current and warrantable amongst all the other churches 
of Christ in the world, are found to be our lading." ^ 

Whatever the diversities of metaphysical theology apparent in these 
various confessions, they yet, with singular unanimity, identify the faith 
of the Congregational churches with the body of Christian doctrine 
known as Calvinistic; ahd hence such Confessions as that of the West- 
minster di\ines, and that of the Savoy Synod, have been accredited 
among these churches as general symbols of faith. 

It has not appeared to the committee expedient to recommend that 
this Council should disturb this " variety in unity " — as Cotton Mather 
happily describes it — by an attempted uniformity of statement in a 
Confession formulating each doctrine in more recent terms of metaphys- 
ical theology. It seemed better to characterize, in a comprehensive way, 
the doctrines held in common by our churches, than thus to individualize 
each in a theological formula. The latter course might rather disturb 
the unity that now exists amid variety. Moreover, little could be gained 
in this respect beyond what we already possess in the ancient formulas 
referred to, which, being interpreted in the sjoirit in which they were 
conceived, answer the end of a substantial unity in doctrine, and have 
withal the savor of antiquity and the proof of use. 

In the language of the Preface to the Savoy Declaration, a Confession 
is " to be looked upon but as a meet or fit medium or means whereby to 
express a common faith and salvation, and no way to be made use of 

1 Preface to the Confession adopted at Saybrook, Conn., 1708. 

2 Cotton Mather, Preface to " Faith professed by the Churches of New England." 

^ Preface to the Savoy Declaration, in Haubury's Historical Memorials, iii. 523 ; see, 
also, infra, p. 2. 



DECLARATION OF FAITH. 97 

as an imposition upon any. "WTiatever is of force or constraint in matters 
of this nature causes them to degenerate from the name and nature of con- 
fessions.^ and turns them from being confessions of faith into exactions 
and impositions of faith! "^ Yet a common confession serves the im- 
portant purpose — the " neglect " of which the Savoy fathers sought 
to remedy — of making manifest our unity in doctrine, and of " hold- 
ing out common lights to others whereby to know where we are." ^ 

With these views, as the result of prolonged and careful deliberation, 
the committee unanimously recommend that the Council should declare, 
by reference to historical and venerable symbols, the faith as it has been 
maintained among the Congregational churches from the beginning; and 
also that it should set forth a testimony on behalf of these churches, for 
the Word of Truth now assailed by multiform and dangerous errors ; and, 
for this end, they respectfully submit the following 

EECITAL AND DECLAKATIOK. 

When the churches of lS[ew England assembled in a general synod at 
Cambridge, in 1648, they declared their assent, " for the substance there- 
of," to the Westminster Confession of Faith. When, again, thes-e churches 
convened in a general synod at Boston, in 1680, they declared their ap- 
proval (with slight verbal alterations) of the doctrinal symbol adopted 
by a synod of the Congregational churches in England, at London, in 
1658, and known as the " Savoy Confession," which in doctrine is almost 
identical with that of the Westminster Assembly. And yet again, when 
the churches in Connecticut met in council at Saybrook, in 1708, they 
"owned and consented to" the Savoy Confession as adopted at Boston, 
and offered this as a public symbol of their faith. 

Thus, from the beginning of their history, the Congregational churches 
in the United States have been allied in doctrine with the Eeformed 
churches of Europe, and especially of Great Britain. The eighth article 
of the " Heads of Agreement," established by the Congregational and 
Presbyterian ministers in England, in 1692, and adopted at Saybrook in 
1708, defines this position in these words: "As to what appertains to 
soundness of judgment in matters of faith, we esteem it sufficient that a 
church acknowledge the Scriptures to be the Word of God, the perfect 
and only rule of faith and practice, and own either the doctrinal part of 
those commonly called the Articles of the Church of England, or the 
Confession or Catechisms, shorter or larger, compiled by the Assembly 
at Westminster, or the Confession agreed on at the Savoy, to be agree- 
able to the said rule." 

And now, when, after the lapse of two centuries, these churches are 
again convened in a General Council at their primitive and historical 
home, it is enough for the first of those ends enumerated by the synod 
at Cambridge, — to wit, " the maintenance of the faith entire, within itself," 
— that this Council, referring to these ancient symbols as embodying, for 
substance of doctrine, the constant faith of the churches here represented, 
declares its adherence to the same, as being " well and fiilly grounded 

1 Hanbury's Historical Memorials, iii. 517. 
2Hanbury's Historical Memorials, iii. 523. 



98 DECLARATION OF FAITH. 

upon the Holy Scriptures," ^ which is " the only sufficient and invariable 
rule of religion." ^ 

But haying in view, also, the second end of a public confession enumer- 
ated by the Cambridge Synod, — to wit, " the holding forth of unity and 
harmony both amongst and with other churches," — we desire to promote 
a closer fellowship of all Christian denominations in the faith and work 
of the gospel, especially against popular and destructive forms of unbe- 
lief, which assail the foundations of all religion, both natural and revealed; 
which know no God but nature; no Depravity but physical malforma- 
tion, immaturity of powers, or some incident of outward condition; no 
Providence but the working of material causes and of statistical laws ; 
no Eevelation but that of consciousness ; no Redemption but the ehmi- 
nation of evil by a natiu'al sequence of sufferftig ; no Regeneration but 
the natural evolution of a higher type of existence ; no Retribution but 
the necessary consequences of physical and psychological laws. 

As a testimony, in common with all Christian believers, against these 
and kindred errors, we deem it important to make a more specific decla- 
ration of the following truths : — 

There is one personal God, who created all things; who controls the 
physical universe, the laws whereof he has estabhshed; and who, holding 
all events within his knowledge, rules over men by his wise and good 
providence and by his perfect moral law. 

God, whose being, perfections, and government are partially made 
known to us through the testimony of his works and of conscience, has 
made a further revelation of himself in the Scriptures of the Old and iN'ew 
Testaments, — a revelation attested at the first by supernatural signs, and 
confirmed through all the ages since by its moral efiects upon the indi- 
vidual soul, and upon human society; a revelation authoritative and final. 
In this revelation, God has declared himself to be the Father, the Son, 
and the Holy Ghost; and he has manifested his love for the world 
through the incarnation of the Eternal Word for man's redemption, in 
the sinless life, the expiatory sufferings and death, and the resurrection 
of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour; and also in the mission of the 
Holy Ghost, the Comforter, for the regeneration and sanctification of 
the souls of men. 

The Scriptures, confirming the testimony of conscience and of history, 
declare that mankind are universally sinners, and are under the righteous 
condemnation of the law of God; that from this state there is no deliver- 
ance, save through " repentance toward God, and faith in the Lord Je- 
sus Christ;" and that there is a day appointed in which God will raise 
the dead, and will judge the world, and in which the issues of his moral 
government over men shall be made manifest in the awards of eternal 
life and eternal death, according to the deeds done in the body. 

Joseph P. Thompson. 
Edward A. Lawrence. 

Boston, June 14, 1865. GeoRGE P. FlSHER. 

1 Preface to the Savoy Confession, as adopted at Saybrook in 1708. 

2 Ditto. 



DECLARATION OF FAITH. 99 

DEVOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

The hour of eleven having arrived, the Council spent half an 
hour in devotional exercises, singing several hymns, and prayer 
being offered by Rev. Dr. Post, of Missouri, Rev. Mr. Guernsey, 
of Iowa, and Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, of New York. 

DECLARATION OF FAITH. 

The consideration of the report of the committee on a Con- 
fession of Faith, was resumed. 

Rev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio. The Council have concurred with the 
recommendation of the business committee, that the papers presented to 
this body, which did not originate in the body, and were not matured by 
committees appointed by the body, should, after being read here, with- 
out discussion of the subject matter of the reports, be referred to the 
appropriate committees. They can be referred, sir, with or without 
instructions. I rise to move that this report be referred, with instruc- 
tions, — instructions which do not involve a discussion of the merits of 
the paper; and with your leave, sir, before offering the motion, which 
I have put into writing, I will make a remark or two which will ex- 
plain it. 

This Council originated in an overture from the General Association 
of Illinois. That association, adopting a resolution or resolutions 
passed by the Triennial Convention of the Congregational Churches of 
the Korth-west, which has the Theological Seminary of Chicago in 
charge, issued a letter to the Congregational churches of other States, 
asking them to unite with them in a preliminary convention, for the 
purpose of calling a National Council. That proposal was responded 
to by the several State bodies. The Ohio Slate Conference passed 
a resolution expressing their concurrence in the recommendations and 
the reasoning of the overture, and, for the purposes therein specified, 
appointed a committee to meet the committees of the other State bodies. 
Their resolution was purposely thus guarded. The delegation that went 
from our State Conference were not authorized to introduce into the 
programme of the Council any topic that was not specified in the over- 
ture of the General Association of Illinois. I regret not to find that 
paper embodied in the proceedings of the prehminary meeting of the 
State committees, of which it was the basis; but it will not be ques- 
tioned, I suppose, by any, that that preliminary meeting did a larger 
preliminary work than they were expected or appointed to perform, or 
than they themselves anticipated when they came together. The gen- 
eral exigencies and opportunities of Christ's kingdom in this country, 
with general reference to which the Council was to be called, appeared 
to them, on a survey, to embrace points which were not in the contem- 
plation of the State conferences when they were appointed. I am sure 
that it would not be possible to select from our churches a company of 



100 DECLARATION OF FAITH. 

men, ministers and laymen, in whose judgment the churches would 
repose more entire confidence than in the judgment of the brethren who 
formed that preliminary convention. But still it is true, sir, that the 
State bodies represented by those committees were not committed by 
that convention to any thing that was not contained in the original 
overture from the General Association of Ilhnois. Had the question, 
sir, of issuing a declaration of faith to the churches been coupled with 
the other recommendations of that overture, I doubt whether it would 
have met with general favor from the churches. That jealous regard 
for individual hberty, for the rights of conscience and of private judg- 
ment, which is our original legacy and birthright as Congregationahsts, 
that traditional repugnance toward even the seeming introduction of any 
rule or standard other than that of the word of God, would have led 
them to regard a document of this character, whatever the disclaimers, 
in, that aspect. 

Eev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. I call the brother to order. He is 
entering into a debate of the question, which is to be referred to the 
committee. 

Eev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio. I think it will be seen that what I have 
said has a bearing upon the motion. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. Undoubtedly it has, — a great 
bearing; but it is debate. 

Eev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio. The resolution I have to offer, is 
this : — 

Besolved, That the report be referred to the appropriate committee, 
with instructions to consider the propriety of submitting to the Council 
a declaration of the common faith of our churches, and, if thought ad- 
visable, to report such declaration. 

If this document were sent to the committee without instructions, they 
would be authorized, I suppose, either to report it back, or to revise it; 
and it would be satisfactory, I know, to many members of this body,' if 
the propriety of the issuing of such a declaration could be considered by 
the committee. 

Hon. Mr. Douglas, of Connecticut. I understand that this report 
has been printed; but it has not been distributed among the members in 
this vicinity. I think it proper that it should be distributed before we 
are called upon to act upon it. 

Eev. Mr. Buim, of Connecticut. I would respectfully inquire whether 
the reference of this document to a new committee will not delay, 
unnecessarily, the proceedings of this Council. If, sir, as it seems to me 
but fair to presume, the committee to be appointed shall have given no 
more attention to this matter than most of us, very considerable time 
would be required for them to do justice to the subject in a formal report. 

Eev. Dr. Patton, of Illinois. I call the brother to order. We set- 
tled that matter yesterday. If he wishes to proceed, he must move a 
reconsideration of that vote. 

Eev. JMr. BuKR, of Connecticut. I was not aware of it, sir ; and I 



REPORT ON RELIGIOUS EXERCISES. 101 

know there are other members here who were not aware of it. I would 
plead that there was a misconception, on the part of a large number of 
the delegates, as to this matter. If I had known this report was to be 
referred in the manner proposed, I certainly should have spoken. I 
don't think it ought to be referred. 

Hon. Mr. Hammoistd, of Illinois. My understanding was, that all 
the documents ordered by the preliminary meeting at New York, 
which was only for the purpose of bringing subjects before this Council, 
should be read, and then referred to special committees appointed for 
each. 

Eev. Dr. Bacon", of Connecticut. I submit that the document has 
already been referred by the action of the Council yesterday, and that 
all the Council has to do is to appoint its committee. 

The question was then taken on the resolution offered by Dr. 
Wolcott, and it was adopted. 

REPORT ON" RELIGIOUS EXERCISES. 

Rev. Dr. Kirk, of Massachusetts, from the committee on 
Devotional Exercises, reported as follows : — 

Whereas, the Council has already appointed daily religious exer- 
cises, and whereas, so much time has already been occupied with pre- 
liminary business ; therefore, the committee recommend : — 

1. That they be permitted to report in part, and continue their ses- 
sions. 

2. That each day's exercises be terminated with the use of the dox- 
ology. 

3. That in compliance with the recommendation of the provisional 
committee, for a special service of devotion, " for the acknowledgment 
of the marvelous and merciful dealings of Almighty God with the nation 
in connection with the war, and for supplicating a gracious dispensation 
of the Spirit of God upon the land, that our restored national unity ipay 
be consecrated in righteousness, and in the peace and joy of the Holy 
Ghost," the Council meet in the house of worship of the First Church in 
Charlestown, to-morrow afternoon, at three o'clock, — the services to 
continue one hour. 

The report was accepted and adopted. 

CHURCH POLITY. 

The moderator called upon the committee appointed at the 
preliminary meeting to prepare a statement of church polity, 
for their report. .» 

Eev. Mr. EusTis, of Connecticut. I understand that this report is a 



102 CHURCH POLITY. 

long one, in different chapters, and lias been printed. The question with 
me is, whether it had not better be distributed, and, when it comes from 
the committee, be read in sections, and be acted upon in sections, 
rather than be acted upon now. I defer, however, to the opinion of the 
committee. 

Eev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. My impression upon that subject is, 
that the report ought to be heard by the hearing of the ear: it ought 
to enter the mind of every member of the Council through that channel, 
— the ear. Then it should be distributed, and put into the hands of 
every member of the Council, that he may read it with his eyes, and get 
access to it through another medium. After that, I apprehend it will 
not be necessary to read it, either in sections or otherwise, again. Each 
chapter can be read by its title. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon, from the committee on Church Polity, then 
read Parts I. and II. of the report, as follows : — 

To THE National Council of Congregational Churches, 

CONVENED at Boston, June 14, 1865. 

Fathers and Brethren^ — In the preliminary conference which made 
arrangements for this National Council, the undersigned and the Eev. 
Dr. Storrs, of Cincinnati, now in England, were appointed to bring 
before the Council " the expediency of issuing a statement of Congrega- 
tional polity." We, therefore, ask leave to present for the consideration 
of this venerable assembly, first^ the fitness and desirableness of such a 
measure; secondly^ the principles which ought to determine the charac- 
ter and contents of the document to be issued; thirdly^ the kind and 
degree of authority with which such a document, proceeding from this 
Council, would be invested ; and, fourtliby, the form of a statement, to be 
adopted with or without amendment, or to be rejected, as the Council 
shall see fit. 

I. The fitness and desirableness of a statement from this Council, de- 
scribing the polity of the Congregational churches, may appear from 
these considerations : — 

1. In issuing such a statement, we only follow the example of ancient 
Congregational synods. The Cambridge Synod, as it is commonly 
called, which assembled in 1646, and was continued by successive ad- 
journments till 1648, and to which all the churches of the New England 
colonies were invited, left, as a perpetual memorial of itself, that state- 
ment of Congregational pohty which has ever since been called the 
Cambridge Platform. The synod of Congregational churches which 
was convened under the patronage of the English government in 1658, 
at the Savoy in London, issued a " Declaration of the Eaith and Order 
owned and practised in the Congregational churches of England." The 
synod of the churches in the colony of Connecticut, which was convened 
at Say brook in 1708, gave out that scheme of a modified Congregation- 
alism, which, though never formally adopted elsewhere than in that 



REPORT ON POLITY. 103 

State, has had its influence on onr churches in almost all parts of our 
country. And more recently, the meeting in which the Congregational 
Union of England and Wales was instituted, though it was not prop- 
erly a synod or council of churches, issued a declaration, or statement, 
describing the faith and order of the Congregational churches in that 
country. 

2. A document which shall exhibit, with more authority than can 
belong to any individual or local testimony, the system of order actually 
held by the Congregational churches in the United States, is greatly 
needed. The churches need it for their own information and guidance. 
Pastors and home missionaries, and indeed all our ministers, need it. 
Young men in theological schools, who are preparing themselves for the 
service of the churches, need it. Many whose ecclesiastical connection 
is with other portions of Christ's universal church need it, that their 
minds may be disabused of misinformation or of prejudice. Especially 
is it needed in the new States and Territories, where ecclesiastical insti- 
tutions are yet to be formed; and in the recovered States, so lately 
ravaged by rebellion, where ecclesiastical reconstruction, disembarrassed 
of all connection with a Christianity apostate from the first principles of 
righteousness, is hardly less important to the future welfare of society 
than a new political and social order. 

3. No ancient document can be wisely referred to as being in all 
respects sufficient for our present need. The Cambridge Platform was 
made more than two hundred years ago, when American Congregation- 
alism was in its infancy; and it is now more valuable as a means of 
showing how little our churches have departed from the original princi- 
ples and methods of their polity, than as a guide to the manner in which 
those principles are applied and administered in the practice of our 
churches at the present day. Indeed, there are portions of it which, to 
readers not versed in our ecclesiastical history, nor familiar with the 
technical terms of a logic now obsolete, are hardly intelligible without a 
commentary. 

II. What sort of a statement will best supply the existing need, is a 
question which seems to answer itself. There is no need of an argumen- 
tative or rhetorical defense of Congregationalism to be issued by this 
assembly. Such expositions of our polity may proceed more fitly from 
individuals than from any representative body. On the other hand, a 
simple statement of the two or three first principles which constitute the 
radical difierence between Congregationalism and other theories of 
church government, would not be sufficient. Those first principles are 
only the points of divergence between differing systems ; and how wide 
the divergence is, can not be shown but by tracing out the application of 
the principles. A simple and perspicuous statement, not only of the 
principles on which our polity is founded, but also of the usages and 
arrangements which those principles have established among us, and in 
which, by common consent, they are applied and made practical, will 
be, it is believed, of great use to our chui'ches, both in their internal 
administration and in their fellowship with each other. 



104 GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 

III. The authority of any document issued by this assembly of elders 
and messengers is wholly unlike the authority which is claimed for the 
canons enacted by the various assemblies of clergy and delegates which 
assume to govern the particular churches under them. It is little more 
than a truism to say that this Council has no legislative power to ordain 
a new constitution for the Congregational chui'ches, or to make any new 
law, and no judicial power to establish precedents which inferior judica- 
tories must follow. All that a council like this can do is to inquire, to delib- 
erate, and to testify. The testimony of this assembly concerning what 
is and what is not the Congregational polity, cannot but have whatever 
authority belongs to the testimony of competent witnesses, assembled in 
a great multitude, well informed concerning the matter in question, and 
representing all " those Congregational churches in the United States of 
America which are in recognized fellowship and cooperation through 
the general associations, conferences, and conventions in the several 
States." Whatever authority the Cambridge Platform has as testifying 
what the Congregational pohty of our fathers was in 1648, just that 
authority a similar statement, proceeding from this assembly, will have 
as testifying what American Congregationalism is in 1865. 

lY. The undersigned, therefore, respectfully submit the accompanying 
form, or draught, of a statement to be issued by this Council, together 
with a briefer document stating substantially the same points. We have 
not presumed to insert any novelties, nor to express our individual pref- 
erences, but only to state the usages of the churches. A comparison of 
our draught with the Cambridge Platform will show how closely we 
have followed that time-honored instrument in the general plan, in the 
arrangement of topics, and in language, and, at the same time, how 
freely we have departed from it, whether for the sake of increased per- 
spicuity, or for the sake of exhibiting the Congregational pohty as it is 
in fact to-day, instead of exhibiting it as it was in theory when our 
fathers, more than two hundred years ago, were beginning to build on 
this continent the living and ever-living temple of our God. 

Leonaed Bacon. 
Alonzo H. Quint. 

Boston, June 14, 1865, 



THE GOYEE]S'MEKT ANT> FELLOWSHIP PKACTISED BY 
THE C0:N^GKEGATI0KAL CHUKCHES m THE UNITED 
STATES. 

PART L — PRELIMINARY PRINCIPLES. 

CHAPTER I. — DEFI>"IT10N AND RULE OF CHURCH POLITY. 

1. The first principle from which the polity of the Congregational 
churches proceeds, is, that the Holy Scriptures, and especially the 
Scriptm-es of the New Testament, are the only authoritative rule for the 



GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 105 

constitution and administration of churcti government; so that no other 
rule than those which are warranted by Christ and his apostles can be 
imposed on Christians as conditions of membership and communion in 
the church. 

2. Ecclesiastical polity, therefore, or church government and disci- 
pline, is that association of believers for united worship and spiritual 
communion, in order to the visibility, the purity, the advancement, and 
the perpetuity of Christ's kingdom, which God has prescribed by the 
teaching of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures. 

CHAPTER II. — THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND A PARTICULAR CHURCH. 

1. Christ's catholic or universal chm'ch is the great company of God's 
elect, redeemed and effectually called from the state of sin and death into 
a state of reconciliation to God. 

2. The church universal is either triumphant or militant. They who 
have come out of the great tribulation, and have entered into the joy of 
their Lord in heaven, are the church triumphant. They who are still 
serving Christ on the earth, and contending with the powers that rule the 
darkness of this world, are the church militant. 

3. The universal church on earth is not invisible merely, as discerned 
by God who searches the hearts and knows the relation of every individ- 
ual soul to Christ, but is visible, also, as including all who profess to 
believe in Christ, and do not wholly contradict that profession by ungod- 
liness in their lives, or by denying the essential truths of the gospel. 

4. The visible church catholic, as it includes all visible Christians, 
comprehends not only such particular churches as are constituted and 
governed according to the word given in the Holy Scriptures, but also 
all assemblies of Christian believers and worshipers, even though, in 
things not essential to the Christian faith, they err through the force of 
tradition or the infirmity of human judgment; and it is governed, not by 
the pretended \acar of Christ, nor by any human authority assuming 
to have jurisdiction over all particular churches, but only by Christ him- 
self through his word and spirit. 

5. As we renounce the notion of an organized and governed catholic 
church, which has no warrant from the Scriptures ; so we renounce the 
equally unwarranted action of a national church, having jurisdiction over 
the particular churches in a nation. Under the gospel, the organized 
and governed church is not ecumenical, nor national, nor provincial, nor 
diocesan, or classical, but only local or parochial, — a congregation of 
faithful or beheving men, dwelhng together in one city, town, or conven- 
ient neighborhood. 

6. A local or Congregational chmxh is, by the institution of Christ, a 
part of the militant visible church, consisting of a company of saints by 
calHng, united into one body by a holy covenant, for the public worship 
of God, and their own mutual edification, in the fellowship of the Lord 
Jesus. 

7. All particular churches, being the one body of Christ, and having 



106 GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 

one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, are bound 
to maintain and hold forth the catholic communion of saints, endeavoring, 
in theii- intercourse and relations one mth another, to keep the unity of 
the Spirit in the bond of peace. 

PART n. THE CHURCH: ITS FORM, ORGANIZATION, AND GOVERNMENT. 

CHAPTER I. — HOW A PARTICULAR CHURCH IS ORGAl^IZED. 

1. The visible church consists of those who belong to Christ, and are, 
therefore, in the phrase of our ancient platform, " saints by calhng," and 
who, being holy by their calling and profession, are gathered out of the 
ungodly world, and united in a holy fellowship. 

2. Those who visibly belong to Christ are, first^ such as have not only 
attained a knowledge of the principles of rehgion, and are free from 
gross and open scandals, but also do profess their personal faith and 
repentance, and walk in blameless obedience to the word; and, secondly^ 
their children, who, being children of the covenant, are also holy. 

3. The members of one church ought ordinarily to dwell in such 
vicinity to each other that they can meet in one place; so that every 
city, town, or convenient neighborhood, shall have its own church com- 
plete and distinct. And ordinarily the members of one church ought 
not to be more in number than can conveniently meet for worship in 
one assembly, and manage their affairs by one administration. Yet, if 
there be many congregations, distinct from each other, in one to"s\Ti or 
city (whether their several parishes be distinguished by geographical 
lines or otherwise) they ought to regard themselves and each other 
as so many branches of Christ's one cathohc church in that place. 

4. Those behevers who dwell together in one place become a particu- 
lar and distinct church, by their recognition of each other, and their 
mutual agreement, express or implied, wherein they give themselves 
unto the Lord to the observing of the ordinances of Christ in the same 
society. Such a recognition and agreement is usually called the church 
covenant. 

5. Different degrees of explicitness in such an agreement do not affect 
the being of the church, or the duties and responsibiUties of membership. 
The more ex^Dlicit and solemn the act of covenanting, the more are the 
members reminded of their common and mutual duties, and the less room is 
there for uncertainty in distinguishing between those who are members and 
those who are not. Yet the whole essence and meaning of the covenant 
are in fact retained, where the agreement of certain behevers to meet 
constantly in one congregation for worship and edification, is expressed 
only by their 2^ractice of thus meeting, and their actual use and observ- 
ance of Christ's ordinances in theii assembly. However exiDhcit the 
covenant may be, it can reasonably and rightfully express nothing more 
than a mutual agreement to observe all Christ's laws and ordinances as 
one church; and, however informal the agreement may be, it can mean 
nothing less. 



GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 107 

6. All believers, having the opportunity, should endeavor to become 
members, every one, of some particular church, that they may honor 
Christ by their professed conformity to the order and ordinances of the 
gospel, and that they may have the benefits of visible union and fellow- 
ship with the church, which is the communion of the saints. These benefits 
are, first, a participation in the promise of Christ's special presence with 
his Church; secondly, their increased activity and enjoyment in the 
Christian life by the combination of their afiections and their endeavors, 
and by their inciting each other to love and good works; thirdly, watch- 
ful and fraternal help to keep each other in the way of God's command- 
ments, and to recover, by due admonition and censure, any that go 
astray; and, fourthly, aid in the Christian nurture and training of their 
children, that their households may be holy, and their posterity be not 
cut off" from the privileges of the covenant. Should all behevers neglect 
this duty of voluntarily entering into organized Christian fellowship, to 
which duty they are moved by all the impulses of a renewed and holy 
mind, Christ would soon have no visibly associated and organized church 
on earth. 

CHAPTER II. — god's IKSTITUTKD WORSHIP IN THE CHURCH. 

1. Believers joined to each other and to Christ, in a chmxh relation, 
are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit, on the 
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the 
chief corner-stone; in whom aU the building, fitly framed together, 
groweth into a holy temple of the Lord. 

2. The worship of God in his spiritual temple, the church, includes 
prayer, the singing of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, the minis- 
try of the word, the sacraments, and the contribution of gifts and 
offerings for the service of Christ. 

3. Prayers ofiered in the church should be grave and earnest, lifting 
up the thoughts and desires of the assembly to God; they should be ofiered 
not in any prescribed and inflexible form, but freely, according to the vicis- 
situdes of need and tiial, and of joy or sorrow, in the church or in its 
households; they should be ofiered for aU men, for those who are in 
authority, for the welfare of the civil state, and for the universal church 
of Christ on earth; and in the matter and manner they should be con- 
formed to such models as the Scriptures give, and, above all, to that 
model which Christ himself gave to his disciples that he might teach 
them how to pray. 

4. Singing in the church is not for the delight of the sense as in places 
of amusement, but for the union of voices and hearts in worship, and for 
spiritual edification. The Psalms which God gave by the Holy Spii-it in 
the Old Testament are sanctioned for us by Christ and his apostles, and 
remain in the church for ever, to be used in praising God. There is war- 
rant, also, in the l^ew Testament for the use of hymns and spiritual songs, 
but not to the exclusion or neglect of the Psalms. 

5. The ministry of the word in the church is by the reading of the 



108 GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 

Scriptures, with such exposition as may aid the hearers in their personal 
and family searching of the Scriptures ; and also by preaching and teach- 
ing, that the truths and principles which G-od has revealed in his law 
and in the gospel of his grace may be set forth distinctly in their man- 
ifestation of the glory and government of G-od, in their relations to each 
other, and in all their apphcations to the duties of men and to the sal- 
vation of sinners. 

6. The two sacramental institutions of the New Testament, represent- 
ing, significantly, and commemorating through all ages, the two-fold 
grace of G-od offered in the gospel, as they are to be observed by aU 
believers, are also to be administered in every church. Baptism, wherein 
the purifying element of water signifies and holds forth the inward wash- 
ing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which God shed on 
men abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, is most becomingly 
administered in the church, whether on converts from without or on the 
children of the covenant, and should be administered in simphcity, with 
no addition of vain or superstitious ceremonies. In like manner, the 
Lord's Supper, wherein his disciples, partaking of the bread and cup, 
partake of his body which was broken for us, and of his blood which was 
shed for many for the remission of sins, is to be celebrated in all simplic- 
ity, according to the recorded words of the institution, without any 
mixture of human inventions. 

7, In the place of the tithes and the offerings, which were part of God's 
instituted worship before the coming of Christ, are the free gifts of 
Christ's disciples to his suffering brethren and to his cause and service. 
The contribution in the church is not a secular thing, intruded into the 
house of God for mere convenience' sake, and adverse to spiritual edifica- 
tion, but is itself an act of grateful homage to Christ as well as of com- 
munion with his brethren. 

CHAPTER III. — CHUKCH POWER. 

1. Church power, under Christ, resides primarily, not in the officers 
of the church, nor in any priesthood or clergy, but in the church; and it 
is derived through the church, to its officers from Christ. 

2. Church power is not legislative, but only administrative. It extends 
no further than to declare and apply the law of Christ, ^o church has 
any lawful power to make itself other than simjoly a church of Christ, 
in which the mind of Christ, as made known in the Scriptures, shall be 
the only rule of faith and practice. As no church may lawfully add 
any thing to the sum of Christian doctrine, or take any thing therefrom ; 
so no church may lawfully add any thing to, or take any thing from, the 
rules of Christian living, and the conditions of Christian fellowship, 
which the Scriptures prescribe. 

CHAPTER IV. — CHURCH OFFICERS. 

1. Though church officers are not necessary to the mere existence of 
a church, yet to its well-being, and to the performance of its functions, 



GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP.* 109 

officers are necessary. Therefore they are appointed by Christ's institu- 
tion, and are counted among the gifts of his triumphal ascension to glory. 

2. The powers and functions of church-officers are not to be confounded 
with the powers and functions of the apostles and other extraordinary 
ministers of Christ, who were sent forth at the beginning of the gospel. 
Nor are any church officers to be recognized as holding their official 
power in the succession from the apostles, or as having any of that 
authority over all the churches with which the apostles were invested. 

3. Church officers, according to the arrangement which the apostles 
instituted in every church, are of two sorts, — bishops, or elders, and dea- 
cons. 

4. The office of elder, or bishop, in the church is two-fold : to labor in 
word and doctrine, and to rule. As laboring in word and doctrine, elders 
are pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of 
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; and in order to this, 
they are rightly to divide the word of truth, and to administer those 
sacramental ordinances in which the grace of the gospel is visibly set 
forth and sealed. Like all whom G-od has put into the ministry of his 
gospel, they are to preach the word, and are to be instant in season and 
out of season, reproving, rebuking, exhorting, with all long-suffering and 
patience, holding forth the faithful word, that they may be able by sound 
doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayer. As ruling in the 
chm'ch, they are to be not lords over God's heritage ; but being the ser- 
vants of all, for Jesus' sake, they are to watch for souls as they that must 
give account. They are to open and shut the doors of God's house by the 
admission of members approved by the church, by ordination of officers 
approved by the church, by excommunication of obstinate offenders 
denounced by the church, and by restoring penitents forgiven by the 
church. They are to call the church together when there is occasion, 
and seasonably to dismiss them again. They are to prepare matters for 
the hearing of the church, that in public they may be carried to an end 
with less trouble and more speedy dispatch. They are to preside in the 
meetings of the church, whether for public worship or for the transac- 
tion of church business. They are to be guides and leaders in all matters 
pertaining to church administration and church actions; but they have 
no power to perform any church act save with the concurrence and by 
the vote of the brotherhood. They are to care for the spiritual health 
and growth of individual members, and to prevent and heal such offenses 
in life or doctrine as might corrupt the church; and they are to visit and 
pray over their brethren in sickness when sent for, and at such other times 
as opportunity shall serve. 

5. The number of elders, or bishops, in a particular church is neither 
prescribed nor hmited, but is to be determined by the discretion of 
the church itself, in view of its ability and its need. In the primitive 
churches, a plural eldership seems to have been the rule, and not the 
exception. In the American Congregational churches, at the beginning, 
it was thought needful that every church should " have at least three 
elders, of whom two were to labor in word and doctrine, and the other 



110 GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 

was to be associated with them in all their work as bishops, or overseers 
of the flock. While no church is rightfully subjected to any presbytery 
exterior to itself, every church should have its own presbytery. The 
modern usage, concentrating all the powers and responsibilities of the 
eldership in one person, is founded on convenience only, and is excep- 
tional rather than normal. Whether, instead of one elder, who under 
the title of pastor performs the whole work of the eldership in a church, 
there shall be two or three, or more, among whom the work of public 
preaching and the work of ruling and oversight shall be divided, is a 
question which every church may determine for itself, without infringing 
any principle of order. 

6. Inasmuch as the duty of contributing for the poor saints, for the 
support and advancement of the chmxh, and for the spread of the gospel, 
is incumbent on all disciples of Christ according to their ability, and is 
essential to the communion of saints ; and inasmuch as the Lord's Day 
is especially designated as a day for such contributions ; the church is 
provided with officers for that service. Deacons are chosen in every 
church to help the elders, not by taking part in the public ministry of 
the word, nor by ruling in the church, but chiefly by serving tables. 
Their office is to receive the contributions and whatever gifts are offered 
to the church; to keep the treasury of the church; and to distribute 
from it for the relief of the poor, especially of those in communion, for 
the supply of the Lord's table, and, if needful, for the support of the 
ministry. As almoners of the church, they are to care for the poor, to 
know them personally, to inquire into their wants and afflictions, and to 
be the organ of communication between them and the brotherhood. 

7. Other officers than bishops and deacons are not provided for the 
church by any precept or example in the ScriiDtures. Yet it is in the 
power of the church to designate any member or members to the per- 
formance of a certain work, such as that of a scribe or clerk and keeper 
of the records, or that of the superintendents or teachers in a Sabbath- 
school, or that of a committee for some inquiry. In designating fit 
persons to perform such duties, it institutes no new order of church 
officers, but only distributes among its members certain duties which are 
common to the brotherhood. 



CHAPTER V. — ELECTION AND ORDINATION OF CHURCH-OFFICERS. 

1. Though no man may assume an office in the church but he that is 
called of God, the call of bishops and deacons is not, like that of 
the apostles, immediately from Christ, but mediately through the 
church. 

2. Those who are to bear office in the church should first be proved 
by thorough acquaintance and trial, and should be known and well 
reported of as having not only the needful gifts, but also those graces 
and virtues which the Scriptures prescribe as qualifications of bishops or 
of deacons. 

3. A church, being free, can not become subject to any but by a free 



GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. IIJL 

election; yet when such a people do choose any to be over them in the 
Lord, then do they become subject, and most willingly submit to the 
divinely authorized ministry of those whom they have chosen. 

4. Church oflScers are not only to be chosen by the church, but are 
also to be ordained by laying-on of hands and prayer, with which, at the 
ordination of elders, fasting is also to be joined. This ordination is the 
solemn and public induction of the chosen officer into his place and 
office, like the inauguration of a magistrate in the commonwealth. 
Such ordination of a pastor or teacher is his induction into the work of 
ministering in the word; and ii" he be afterwards dismissed from his 
eldership in that church, and be called to a like office in another 
church, it is not deemed necessary that his installation in his new place 
be with the laying-on of hands. Yet we protest against the superstitious 
notion, that consecration to the ministry by imposition of hands intro- 
duces the' person into a hierarchal or priestly order, and so may not be 
repeated. 

5. In a church which has elders, the laying-on of hands in ordination 
is to be performed by those elders. But if the church be destitute of 
elders, then other fit persons, elders of other churches, or ministering 
brethren not in office, or (if need be) brethren who have not been called 
and set apart to minister in the word of God, may be deputed by the 
church to perform this service; and the laying-on of their hands, with 
prayer and fasting, is a fit and sufficient induction of the chosen elders 
or bishops, not less than of deacons, into the office to which they have 
been designated. 

6. Keither a deacon, nor an elder or bishop, is an officer in any other 
church than that which elected him to his office; nor can he perform 
official acts in another church, otherwise than at the invitation of that 
church, and by a power derived through them from Christ; for as no 
church has authority over another church, so no church can invest its 
officers with authority over other churches. 

CHAPTER VI. — MAINTENANCE OF CHURCH OFFICERS. 

1. The duty of every church to provide a sufficient and honorable 
support, according to its ability, for the officers who give their time 
and strength to its service, is evident in itself, and is expressly enjoined 
by the Scriptures. Every member of the church in his place, and in the 
measure of his ability to contribute, is responsible for this duty. 

2. Inasmuch as not only the covenanted members of the church, but 
all who are taught, may be reasonably expected, and should be encour- 
aged, to bear their part in the expense of building the house of God and 
sustaining the ministry of the word, the civil incorporation of ecclesiasti- 
cal societies, or parishes, in connection with churches, is a natural 
arrangement of Christian civilization in a free commonwealth. The form 
in which a society may be incorporated, for the legal ownership of eccle- 
siastical property and the support of public worship, is determined by 
the laws of the state; but the church, as a spiritual fellowship, electing 



112 GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 

and ordaining its own officers, and worshiping God according to the 
New Testament, holds its charter only from Christ, and may not 
surrender its spiritual rights and powers to any civil corporation. 
Therefore, the independence of the church in the choice of its own offi- 
cers, and in all its discipline, and in the conduct of its worship, must be 
steadfastly guarded. At the same time, the right of the parish or 
ecclesiastical society, as a legal corporation (including or representing 
all who in any equitable manner aid in the support of public worship), 
to control, within the limits of its trust, the use and expenditure of its 
own property, must be recognized. While the church is at hberty to 
elect whom it will, and as many as it will, to be church officers, it can 
not, by its own authority, require the parish to assume the burden of 
supporting them. Thus, in the election and settlement of a pastor or 
other officer who is to be supported by the parish, the concurrent votes 
of the church and the parish are necessary. 



CHAPTER VII. — ADMISSION OF MEMBERS INTO THE CHURCH, AND DISMISSION OF 
MEMBERS FROM ONE CHURCH TO ANOTHER. 

1. The things which are requisite in all church members are repent- 
ance from sin, and faith in Jesus Christ; and, therefore, these are the 
things whereof men are to be examined at their admission into the 
church, and which then they must profess and hold forth in such sort 
as may satisfy rational charity that the things are there indeed. 

2. The weakest measure of faith is to be accepted in those that desire 
to be admitted into the church, because weak Christians, if sincere, have 
the substance of that penitent faith and holiness which is required in 
church members ; and such have most need of the ordinances for their 
confirmation and growth in grace. Such charity and tenderness are to 
be used, that the weakest Christian, if sincere, may not be excluded or 
discouraged. 

3. It is not needful that the profession of repentance and faith should 
be always in the same form of words ; but it must always be in such 
words as are satisfactory to the church, and must be accompanied by a 
professed engagement to walk with the church according to the gospel. 

4. Such personal profession is required not only of those who have 
not been before in any church relation, but also those who, having been 
born and baptized in the church, may be considered as in some sort 
hereditary members ; for they, too, must credibly show and profess their 
own repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, 
before they come to the Lord's table or are recognized as members in full 
communion. 

5. A church member, removing his residence to another place, does 
not thereby throw off his responsibility to the church with which he is 
in covenant. If his removal is permanent, he ought to seek, and, unless he 
is liable to some just censure (in which case he must be dealt with as an 
offender), he has a right to receive, a letter of dismission and commenda- 
tion to an evangelical church in the place of his new residence; or, if 



GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 113 

there be no such church in that place, to any such church with which he 
can have communion statedly in Christian ordinances. But his dismis- 
sion can not take effect till he shall be received, as a member, by the 
church to which he has been commended. 

6. A church is not bound to receive a member merely because of his 
dismission and commendation from another church; but if it find any 
just ground of objection to him, it may remit the case to the considera- 
tion of the church from which he came, and of which he is still a mem- 
ber. 



CHAPTER VIII. — THE METHOD OF DEALING WITH OFFENDERS. 

1. The censures of the church are appointed for the prevention and 
removal of offenses and the recovering of offenders; for purging out the 
leaven which may infect the whole lump; for vindicating the honor of 
Christ and of his church, and the profession of the gospel; and for pre- 
venting the displeasure of God, that may justly fall upon the church if 
they suffer his covenant, and the seals thereof, to be profaned by noto- 
rious and obstinate offenders. 

2. Censures of the church are of two sorts, — admonition and excommu- 
nication. 

3. If an offense be private, one brother trespassing against another, 
the offender is to go and acknowledge his repentance of it unto his 
offended brother, who is then to forgive him. But if the offender neglect 
or refuse to do this, then (1) the brother offended is to go and admon- 
ish him privately, between themselves. If thereupon the offender be 
brought to repent of his offense, the admonisher hath won his brother. 
But if the offender hear not his brother, then (2) the offended is to take 
with him one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every 
word may be established, whether the word of admonition, if the offender 
receive it, or the word of complaint, if he refuse. (3) If the offender be 
not recovered by that second admonition, the offended brother is then to 
teU the church. If the church find that the complaint is well founded, it 
admonishes the offender; and then if he hear the church, and penitently 
confess his fault, he is recovered and gained, and is to be forgiven. But 
if, after being admonished by the church, he be not yet convinced of his 
fault, and ready to profess, frankly, his repentance of it, he remains 
under the censure of admonition, which of itself excludes or suspends 
him from the holy fellowship of the Lord's Supper, till either the offense 
is removed by his penitent confession, or the church, after reasonable 
forbearance, proceed to cast him out by excommunication. 

4. When the offense is already public and notorious, and is of such a 
character as to be infamous among men, a more summary proceeding is 
authorized by the Scriptures. The church, without waiting for an indi- 
vidual complaint, or for the effect of private admonition, may take notice 
of the notorious fact, and cast out the offender without delay, for the 
mortifying of his sin, and the saving of his soul in the day of the Lord 
Jesus, as well as for the vindication of the gospel which he has dishon- 



114 GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 

ored. Tet no offender may be censured without trial and the opportu- 
nity of being heard. 

5. In dealing with an offender, great care is to be taken that we be 
neither too rigorous nor too indulgent. Our proceeding ought to be 
with a spirit of meekness, considering ourselves lest we also be tempted. 
Yet, the winning and healing of the offender's soul being the end of these 
endeavors, we must be earnest and thorough, not healing the wounds of 
our brethren slightly. 

6. While the offender remains excommunicated, the church is to refrain 
from all communion with him in spiritual things, and also from all famil- 
iar communion with him in civil things, further than the necessity of 
natural, domestic, or civil relations may require. Yet, while there may 
be any hope of his recovery, we are to be kindly watchful for signs of 
repentance in him; not counting him an enemy, but admonishing him as 
a brother. 

7. If the censure be made effectual by the grace of Christ, so that the 
excommunicated person repents of his sin, and with confession desires 
to be restored, the church is thereupon to forgive him; and as the cen- 
sure was public, he is to be publicly absolved or loosed from the censure, 
and restored to full communion. 

8. It is doubtless of great importance to the welfare of the church, 
that profane and scandalous persons be not permitted to continue in its 
fellowship, and to partake at the Lord's table; and the church which 
neglects to deal with such members, and to use the discipline of the 
Lord's house for their reformation or their exclusion, is greatly to be 
blamed. Yet such a church is not therefore to be immediately forsaken 
and renounced by those who would live godly in Jesus Christ. Nor 
is it reasonable that any individual member of that church should there- 
:ft)re withdraw himself from the Lord's table. In so doing, he wrongs 
his own soul by denying to himself the appointed means of grace, and 
wrongs the church by adding another scandal to that which he would 
rebuke. Let him rather endeavor, modestly, and seasonably, according 
to his power and place, that the unworthy may be duly proceeded against 
by the church to whom that duty belongs. 



CHAPTER IX. — RELATION OF THE CHURCH TO CIVIL GOVERNMENT, AND THE 
CONFLICT OF LAWS. 

1. The right of the church to assemble for worship, to observe Christ's 
ordinances, to hold forth the word of life by public preaching and by 
private communication, to receive into its communion those who give 
evidence of repentance and faith, and to admonish offenders or exclude 
them, is not a mere concession from the civil power, but is part of that 
religious liberty which Christ, by commanding his gospel to be preached 
to every creature, challenges for all men, and which no human govern- 
ment can suppress or violate, without incurring the displeasure of God. 

2. The law which the church administers in its discipline is not merely 
the law of the land, nor the law of common use and opinion, but the 



GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 115 

higher law of God as revealed in the Scriptures; for that which is highly 
esteemed among men conformed to this world may be abominable to 
God and to men enlightened by his word and spirit. If wickedness go 
unpunished in the civil State, or be even honored by public opinion, it is 
not therefore to be tolerated in the church. If the law of the land require 
of any man, under whatever penalties, that which the law of God forbids 
him to do, or if it forbid him to do what the law of God requires, it is 
better to obey God rather than men ; and the church is to require of all 
its members obedience to the higher law of God. Yet, inasmuch as the 
Scriptures require of every Christian soul subjection to existing powers 
in the civil State, whether Christian or anti-Christian, the duty of loyalty 
to government, of conscientious obedience to every law which does not 
positively require what God forbids, or forbid what God requires, and 
of patient submission to persecution or other injustice when there is no 
lawfal redress, is a duty of religion which the discipline of the church 
must honor and maintain. 

3. With matters properly and exclusively political, the church has no 
concern; for Christ's kingdom is not of this world. But with matters 
of morality and religion, the church, in the administration of its disci- 
pline, and in the testimony which it is to give for God, has much to do. 
Especially in a free commonwealth, where the government proceeds con- 
tinually from the people, the church is bound to testify, in its discipline 
and in its teaching, against wicked laws and institutions, not fearing to 
assert and apply the law of God, as revealed in the Scriptures, whatever 
may be the contradiction of sinners, and whatever the conflict between 
that supreme law of Christ's kingdom and the laws ordained of men, or 
the institutions and usages of society. Thus, the moral sense of com^ 
munities and nations must be corrected and enlightened, and must be 
made to advance with the progress of the church, till Christ shall be 
honored in all lands as King of kings, and Lord of lords, the blessed and 
only Potentate. [Continued on page 118.] 

At this point, the hour of adjournment having nearly arrived, 
Dr. Bacon paused, and said that, as it would be impossible to 
conclude the report this forenoon, he would not enter upon the 
third part, but would read the remainder of the document, with 
the leave of the Council, in the afternoon. 

A motion was made that the hour of adjournment in the 
afternoon be six o'clock, instead of five. 

Eev. Mr. "Wellman, of Massachusetts, suggested that five and a half 
o'clock would be a better hour, inasmuch as six would interfere with the 
convenience of many delegates who lodged out of the city. He moved 
to amend the motion, so that it should read five and a half o'clock, instead 
of six. 

The amendment was accepted by the mover. 



116 GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 

Kev. Dr. Todd, of Massachusetts, opposed the motion. He thought 
six hours a day were as much as they could profitably sit at this 
season, and that they would probably accomplish as much in that time 
as they would if they should make the change proposed. 

The question was put, and the motion lost. 

LETTER FROM MASSSACHUSETTS CONTENTION OF CONGREGATIONAL 

MINISTERS. 

Kev. Mr. Dexter, of Massachusetts. I have a communication to read, 
and I desire to say, as prelimmary, in order that all present may under- 
stand how it comes here, that the Massachusetts Convention of Congre- 
gational Ministers is a body that had an existence before the days of 
Unitarian separation; that it had funds in its possession for the widows 
of poor ministers; and that, on account of that peculiar condition of 
things, the convention has continued to exist until this day, and includes 
all Congregational ministers in Massachusetts, whether Orthodox or 
Unitarian in their faith. This communication comes from that body: — 

"To THE Moderator of the National Council of 
Congregational Ministers. 
^^Dear Sir, — ^WiU you please lay before the Council the following reso- 
lution, passed at a meeting of the Massachusetts Convention of Congre- 
gational Ministers, held in Boston, May 31, 1865: — 

" Besolved, That the N'ational Council of Congregational Churches, to 
be held in this city on the 14th of June next, be respectfully requested 
to use such language, in their official procedures as a Trinitarian Congre- 
gational Council, as shall recognize the fact that there are Unitarian and 
other Congregational churches in this Commonwealth. 

" Yery respectfully, 
[Signed] "James H. Means, 

" Scribe of the Convention. 
"Dorchester, June 12, 1865." ^ 

Eev. Mr. Qihnt, of Massachusetts. As this is a communication which 
should be respectfully received, and the subject to which it refers care- 
fully considered, I move that it be referred to a special committee of 
three, to draft an appropriate reply. 

Eev. Mr. Gulliver, of Connecticut. I wish to propose that the 
committee also take into consideration the very great necessity and im- 
portance of making a distinction, in oiir minutes and in all our phraseol- 
ogy, between Baptist and Pedobaptist Congregational churches. The 
cases are entirely parallel, and I wish the committee would report upon 
both of them. 

Kev. Dr. Dutton, of Connecticut. And also the Universahsts. 

Kev. Dr. Budington, of New York. I hope that the suggestions 
which have now been made will not be pressed upon the committee. 

The Moderator. I supposed they were suggestions only. 



GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 117 

Eev. Dr. Budington, If they are suggestions, simply, I will not 
occupy the time of the Council by remarking upon them. There are 
very grave considerations at the bottom of this communication, and I 
trust they will he very prayerfully and carefully considered, as they 
deserve to be. 

The motion of Rev. Mr. Quint was then put, aiM carried. 
Adjourned. 

APTEEKOON SESSI0:N'. 

The Council was called to order at 3 o'clock, by the mod- 
erator. 

Rev. JMr. Quint, from the Business Committee, reported the 
following as the programme for the afternoon : — 

That after the reading of the papers upon the evangelization of the 
"West and South, and Church Building, the next business in order be the 
Keport on Ministerial Education, and that the Rev. Edward A. Walker, 
who has just returned from Italy, desiring to speak upon Congregation- 
alism in that country, the reading of papers be suspended at twenty 
minutes before five, in order to afford him an opportunity to do so. 

The report was accepted and adopted. 

CHURCH POLITY. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon then resumed the reading of the report on 
church polity, as follows : — 

PART III. — THE COMMUNION OF CHURCHES. 

CHAPTER I. — PRINCIPLES AND SPECIFICATIONS, 

1. Although churches are distinct, and therefore may not be con- 
founded one with another, and equal, and therefore have not dominion 
one over another; yet all the churches ought to preserve church com- 
munion one with another; because they are all united to Christ as 
integral parts of his one catholic church-militant against the evil that is 
in the world, and visible in the profession of the Christian faith, in the 
observance of the Christian sacram6nt, in the manifestation of the Chris- 
tian life, and in the worship of the one G-od of our salvation, the Father, 
and the Son, and the Holy G-host. 

2. The communion of churches with each other is manifested in vari- 
ous acts of fraternal courtesy, correspondence, and heli^fulness : — 

(1.) In mutual recognition ; one organized congregation of Christian 
worshipers acknowledging another to be a visible church of Christ, 
and each professing a readiness to interchange with the other all reason- 
able acts of Christian courtesy and love. 



118 GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 

(2.) In admitting members of one churcli to commune, as such, at the 
Lord's table in another church, and refusing to admit them if they are 
under censure. 

(3.) In permitting and inviting ministers of the word, recognized and 
accredited as such by one chui'ch, to speak for Christ in another church. 

(4.) In the dismission and reception of members, when for anj suffi- 
cient reason tliey pass from one church to another. 

(5.) In giving and receiving advice when one church desires counsel 
of another and of many others. 

(6.) In giving and receiving help; as when one church gives of its 
members that another maybe supplied with officers; or as when one 
church receives outward support from the contributions of another or 
of many others. 

(7.) In consultation and co-operation for each other's edification and 
pros^Derity, or for the common interest of the gospel. 

(S.) In giving and receiving admonition; as when there is found in a 
church some public offense which it either does not discern, or neglects to 
remove; for though churches have no more authority one over another 
than one apostle had over another, yet as one apostle might admonish an- 
other, so may one church admonish another, and yet without usurpation; in 
which case, if the admonished church refuse to hear its neighbor chui-ches 
and to remove the offense, it \iolates the communion of churches. 

3. The Congregational churches in the United States of America, as 
integral portions of Christ's catholic church, maintain all practicable 
communion with all other portions of the church universal. While other 
chmxhes differ from us in their internal polity, in their relations and 
connections with each other, in their forms of worship, or in the unin- 
spired statements and definitions of doctrines disputed among Christians, 
and while we disown their schemes of hierarchal or synodical govern- 
ment, we acknowledge as particular churches of Christ all congregations 
of Christian worshipers that acknowledge the Holy Scriptures as their 
supreme rule of faith and practice, and Christ as the Lamb of God who 
taketh away the sin of the world. "We pray for their peace and pros- 
perity. We invite their members to occasional communion with us in 
worship and in sacramental ordinances. We receive their letters of dis- 
missal and commendation, and, in return, dismiss our members, as occa- 
sion may require, with letters of commendation to them. We are ready 
to be edified by their ministers; and, in all reasonable and hopeful 
methods, we are ready to consult and co-operate with them for the 
advancement of the gospel. 

4. As some acts of the communion of the churches are due, in one 
degree and another, to all the integral parts of Christ's catholic church, 
so other acts of communion are specially due from churches instituted 
and governed according to the Congregational polity to other churches 
instituted and governed according to the same polity. Certain acts of 
communion are not practicable between churches congregationally gov- 
erned and churches that are under a hierarchal or synodical govern- 
ment; and certain acts of communion are not practicable between 



GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 119 

churches which seriously differ from each other in the system of doctrine 
which they declare, respectively, from the Scriptures, even though they 
recognize each other as holding that faith which is necessary to salvation. 
A church desiring the approbation and assistance of other churches, in 
the ordination of its officers, can not wisely or courteously ask such appro- 
bation and assistance from churches in whose professed theory of gov- 
ernment all ordinations must be by a prelate, or in whose theory the 
power of ordination is given only to a presbytery ruling over many 
congregations. In like manner, if it desire counsel in any case involving 
questions of doctrine, it can not, wisely or courteously, ask such counsel 
of churches not accepting that general system of doctrines which is the 
well-known basis of mutual confidence and intimate communion among 
churches of the Congregational polity. 

5. The more intimate communion existing among these churches is 
exercised in asking and giving counsel, in giving and receiving admoni- 
tion, in various acts of helpfulness toward churches needing help from 
others, and in conferences and consultations for the parochial revival and 
prosperity of religion, or the general advancement of Christ's kingdom. 

CHAPTER II. — COUNCILS. 

1. Councils of churches, orderly assembled to declare the opinion of 
the churches on any matter of common concern, are an ordinance of 
Christ, and are necessary to a communion of the churches. That scrip- 
tural example, where the church at Antioch sent messengers to the 
ctiurch at Jerusalem, for consultation and advice in a difficult question, 
is a sufficient warrant for such councils. 

2. The churches invited to assist in a council are represented by mes- 
sengers or delegates, chosen by them for the particular occasion. By 
ancient usage, the pastor of a church, ha\ang been duly recognized as its 
presiding elder or bishop, is always expected to be one of its messengers ; 
and the letters convening the council invite each church to be represented 
by its pastor and delegate. Yet in the council, when convened, there is 
no distinction of authority between the pastor and other delegates. 

3. It is manifest, from the reason of the case, that in ordinary cases a 
council ought to be made up chiefly of churches in the near vicinity. But 
when a council is called to advise in some personal or i^arochial contro- 
versy which involves strong sympathies and interests in the surrounding 
region, it may be expedient to ask counsel from more distant churches, 
rather than exclusively from those near at hand. 

4. A council is to be called only by a church, or by an aggrieved 
member or members in a church which has unreasonably refused a 
council, or by a competent number of believers intending to be gath- 
ered into a church. In a difficulty or controversy between the church 
and its elder or elders, or between the church and some other person or 
party in the church, if a council is desired, and the church consents, the 
churches to constitute the council are selected by agreement between the 
parties, and are invited by letters-missive from the church; and this is 



120 GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 

called a mutual council. If a church unreasonably refuses to call a mu- 
tual council, then an ex parte council may be invited, by letters-missive 
from the aggrieved member or members. 

5. An ex parte council, properly called, has the same standing, and is 
entitled to the same respect, as a mutual council; for it were unreason- 
able that, in case of grievance, either party should be deprived, by the 
obstinacy of the other, of such relief as the neighboring churches could 
give. But, that it may be properly convened, it is requisite, (1) that 
there be proper ground for calling a council; (2) that one party, prop- 
erly requested, has unreasonably refused to join in calling a mutual coun- 
cil; (3) that the ex parte council is called upon the statement of the 
original grounds for asking a council, and of the unreasonable refusal of 
the other party to join; and, (4) that the churches invited be impartially 
selected. When assembled, the ex parte council should first offer itself 
to the refusing party, as a mutual council. 

6. Councils consist solely of such churches as are invited, with the 
occasional addition of persons whose advice is especially desired. After 
being called, no church or person can be added to or taken from the 
proper members in any manner. Por the letters-missive having speci- 
fied the churches and persons invited, each church appointed its dele- 
gates upon that knowledge of those with whom it was asked to asso- 
ciate. 

7. Councils are not to be convened upon every grou^nd of dissatisfac- 
tion with a church, nor in cases of light moment. They are proper only 
upon some matter of common interest to the churches, such as the rela- 
tions of fellowship between churches ; or the relation of a member to the 
communion of other churches ; the relation of pastors and churches ; the 
reputation of the brotherhood of churches, as affected by the acts or con- 
dition of a church; or matters of general interest to the cause of Christ. 
They are in no such sense such courts of appeal that they may alter or 
rescind any act of a church. Yet, in cases of censure, if the proceedings 
complained of are found to have been in gross violation of the rules 
given in the Scriptures, the council may advise and declare, that, in its 
judgment, the censure complained of is wrong, and may commend the 
censured person to be received by some other church, as a member in 
full communion. 

Particular occasions for councils are such as these : — 
(1.) When a competent number of Christian brethren propose to unite 
in a church covenant, and desire to be recognized as a church in the 
more intimate communion of Congregational churches, the ordinary and 
most orderly method of obtaining such recognition is by an ecclesiastical 
council, invited for that purpose by their letters to a convenient number 
of churches, and especially of churches in the near vicinity. Having 
given to that council, when assembled, a satisfactory statement of their 
faith and order, and of the reasons for their becoming a distinct church, 
together with sufiicient evidence, not only of their Christian character, 
but also of their fitness in respect to gifts and numbers, for perform- 
ing the duties of a church, they receive, as a church, the right hand 



GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 121 

of fellowship extended to them by the council, in behalf of all the 
churches. 

(2.) The induction of a pastor or teacher into his office, in any church, 
or, on the other hand, the dismission of such an officer from his place, 
concerns the communion of the churches. Therefore an ecclesiastical 
council is convened for the ordination or installation of a pastor, and, 
in like manner, for his dismission at his own request. A due respect 
to the communion of the churches requires that no man assuming to 
be a pastor of a church shall be acknowledged as such by other churches, 
unless, at or after his entrance on the duties of the office, he has been 
publicly recognized, by receiving the right hand of fellowship from neigh- 
boring churches, through a council convened for that purpose. The 
welfare of the churches, in their intimate communion with each other, 
requires this safeguard. In like manner, the communion of churches 
requires that no minister dismissed from his charge shall be regarded 
as having sufficient credentials of his good standing, unless he is duly 
commended by a council convened on the occasion of his dismission. 

(3.) When difficulties, whether internal or external, threaten the peace 
and spiritual prosperity of any church, and are not likely to be adjusted 
without aid, or when any question arises on which the church needs 
ad^dce for the guidance and correction or confirmation of its own judg- 
ment, that church has a right to ask the advice of other churches with 
which it is in communion. To such an advisory council the trial of a 
difficult case is sometimes referred. The council examines the questions 
referred to it, whether questions of fact or questions of principle and 
duty; it pronounces its conclusions, but it has no power to inflict any 
church censure, or to absolve from censure. It can only advise the 
church; and the church, by accepting and adopting the result of the 
council, carries the advice into effect. 

(4.) When a member against whom charges have been preferred re- 
quests the calling of a council for the trial of those charges, and the 
church consents to the request, or when, in any manner, parties have arisen 
who desire a council for the hearing of the questions between them, the 
churches to constitute the council are mutually agreed upon between 
the parties. Yet a mutual council is not convened in the name of the 
parties, but in the name of the church. But in such cases a refusal on 
the part of the church to agree to call a council before trial, does not 
give any occasion for an ex parte council. 

(5.) When a member, having been censured by the church, conscien- 
tiously protests that the censure is not according to the facts, or that it 
is not warranted by the word of God, he may respectfully ask the church 
to join with him in calling a mutual council for a new hearing of his case; 
and, that request being denied by the church without sufficient reason, he 
may appeal to other churches for advice, and for such relief as they may 
find reason to give him, and may invite them to meet in an ex parte 
council. Or when a portion of any church has been seriously aggrieved 
by such action of the church as causes public scandal to the cause of 
Christ, and their request for a council has been denied by the church, 



122 GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 

they may in like manner appeal to other churches for a hearing of their 
cause and for advice concerning their duty. 

(6.) "When a member liable to no just censure has requested letters of 
dismission and recommendation to some other recognized church, and 
the request is refused, he may request the church to invite a council to 
hear the case ; and, if the church refuses, he may himself ask a council 
to give him reMef. 

(7.) When a pastor or other ordained minister in any church is 
charged with offenses which would render it proper that he be deposed 
from the ministry, then the church should invite a council to examine 
the charges; if they be proven, the council should advise that fellowship 
be withdrawn from him, and that he be no longer recognized as a Chris- 
tian minister. 

8. The council, when assembled, organizes itself by the choice of a 
moderator and scribe, that its proceedings may be orderly and deliber- 
ate, and may be duly written down for the use of those whom the result 
concerns. If half of the churches invited be not represented, those pres- 
ent ought not to proceed to act, unless the party inviting consents. Be- 
ing a representative body, its functions are limited to the subjects specified 
in the letters-missive. In voting, it was an ancient and laudable custom 
that each church give its voice as a church, and not that the messengers 
vote as individuals ; but this custom is not universal. Having properly 
deliberated, and made up its decision, the council is forthwith to be dis- 
solved; and the scribe is to convey a copy of its proceedings and advice 
to the parties concerned. 

9. The decision of a council is only advisory. Yet it is to be received, 
with reverence and submission, (unless inconsistent with the Scriptures) 
as the voice of the churches, and as an ordinance of God appointed 
thereunto in his word. In cases of difference, therefore, the party adopt- 
ing the advice of council is entitled to the sympathy and commendation 
of the churches, rather than the one rejecting it. 

10. When a council, properly convened and orderly proceeding, 
whether mutual or ex parte^ has pronounced its advice, a second council, 
upon the substance of the same questions, or upon the advice of the first, 
is manifestly improper. If hotJi parties desire further light, they may 
agree thereto. But, if one refuse, an ex parte council is in that case 
not warranted, and is manifestly disorderly. 

11. A council orderly assembled to advise concerning the acts and 
administrations of a church, and finding that such church deliberately 
receives and maintains doctrines which subvert the foundations of the 
Christian faith, or that it wilfully tolerates and upholds notorious scan- 
dals, or that it persistently disregards and contemns the communion of 
churches, may, after fit admonition, advise the churches to withhold from . 
that erring church all acts of communion till it shall give evidence of 
reformation. And any church, after due admonition, may call a council. 

12. Some Congregational churches, neighboring to each other, are con- 
federated, more or less strictly, for mutual assistance in cases Which 
require a council. Such confederations, whether under the name of 



GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 123 

consociation or convention, may be useful if they duly recognize and 
guard the principle that the power of inflicting church censures and of 
absolving from censure, and the power of choosing and ordaining officers 
and of removing them from office for good cause, reside under Christ, 
in the particular church, and not in some ecclesiastical authority extrin- 
sic to the church; and the cognate principle that councils, however 
constituted, are for the communion of churches with each other, and not 
for government over the churches. 

CHAPTER III. — CONFERENCES OF CHURCHES. 

1. It is fit and convenient for the churches of a neighborhood to meet, 
sometimes, by their pastors and delegates, for the purpose of reporting 
to each other their spiritual prosperity and progress, and of consult- 
ing together how to advance the cause and kingdom of Christ. Such 
meetings are commonly called conferences of churches, and are distin- 
guished from councils in that they have nothing to do with giving ad- 
vice to any particular church concerning the ordination or dismission of 
any of its officers, or concerning the administration of its government. 
They meet only for mutual information and inquiry, that through them 
the churches may provoke each other to love and good works. 

2. Conferences of churches are either occasional or stated. Any 
church may invite the neighboring churches, more or fewer, at its own 
discretion, to meet .with it for mutual edification and inquiry. Or a num- 
ber of churches may associate to hold such conferences at fixed periods 
and under definite regulations. Stated conferences of the churches have 
been greatly useful in promoting zeal and Christian activity, and in 
making the gifts of one church subserve the edification of others. 

3. In some States the several conferences are associated in a general 
conference or association of churches, which institutes a careful inquiry 
every year, and makes its report concerning the general prosperity and 
progress of the churches throughout the State. 

CHAPTER IV. — SYNODS, OR NATIONAL COUNCILS. 

1. Occasions may arise, in the progress of Christ's kingdom, when a 
representative assembly of churches, coming together for consultation 
and agreement, and for testimony, is required ; an assembly which shall 
be larger in its numbers than any council, such as a single church can 
convene for its own need, and larger in its constituency than any stated 
conference of churches. Such synods were required, and were held at 
sundry times, when the fathers of the American Congregational churches 
were laying the foundations on which many generations were to build. 

2. A synod can not be constituted by any number of unauthorized indi- 
viduals assuming to represent the churches. The express consent of the 
churches, acting severally, in their self-government under Christ, recog- 
nizing the call, and sending forth their elders and other messengers, is 
what constitutes the synod as a representative body. An assembly thus 
constituted by the joint action of many churches, and coming together 



124 GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 

not for strife and contention, bnt for devout and earnest consultation 
concerning things that pertain to the kingdom of God, may be expected 
to have much of those gracious influences and of that guidance by the 
Holy Comforter, in which Christ fulfills his promises: "Lo, I am with 
you alway, even unto the end of the world;" and, "Where two or 
three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of 
them." 

3. The calling of such a synod ought not to proceed from the mere will 
or motion of unauthorized individuals, nor from the mere motion of any 
one church acting without consultation. When the elders and other 
messengers of any considerable body of churches, coming together in a 
representative assembly, such as the general conference or general asso- 
ciation of a State, are couvinced that an occasion has arisen which 
requires a national synod or council, they may reasonably institute 
inquiries by correspondence with other similar bodies ; and if, after such 
correspondence and conference as may conveniently be had, the convic- 
tion is strengthened and extended, that, in the providence of God, there 
is a call upon the churches to confer with each other in a national coun- 
cil, the arrangements may be made, and the invitation issued by such 
persons as shall have been designated to that service, by common consent 
in the preliminary consultations. The invitation should be addressed, 
not to associations or conferences purporting to represent the churches, 
but distinctly to each several church, so that the ultimate determination 
of the question shall proceed directly from the churches themselves ; and 
every church shall have the opportunity of consenting or withholding 
its consent, according to the wisdom given to it from above. 

4. The proper function of a synod is not to legislate for the churches, 
nor to determine imperatively any question which is not already deter- 
mined by the Scriptures, but by inquiry and brotherly conference, with 
prayer for divine illumination, to obtain and hold forth light on such 
matters as the churches have referred to its deliberations. A synod, as 
a great cloud of witnesses, may properly testify in behalf of the constit- 

'uent churches not only their common faith in Christ their Saviour, but 
what is the system of Christian doctrine, and what the system and theory 
of ecclesiastical administrations, which are the basis of their special com- 
munion one with another, as churches walking in the order of the ^New 
Testament. 

CHAPTER V. — CONFESSIONS OF FAITH. 

1. Neither Christ nor his apostles prescribed any form of words to 
be imposed on disciples, or on churches, for the confessing of their faith. 
Had such a form been given, it would have become a part of the canon- 
ical Scriptures. 

2. Every church is to judge for itself whether the form of words 
ofiered or adopted as a confession of faith by any who desire admission 
to its holy communion, is a satisfactory profession of faith in Christ and 
his gospel. 

3. When a council is assembled for the ordination or recognition of a 



GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 125 

pastor, or for the ordination of a missionary or other minister at large, 
the candidate for ordination or recognition may reasonably be re- 
quired to make a more ample declaration of his religious belief, holding 
forth to the church and the council, not only his personal faith in the 
Saviour of sinners, but also his doctrinal soundness as a preacher of the 
word. Such confession of faith should be in words deliberately and 
accurately chosen, and the council must judge for itself whether the con- 
fession is sound and sufficient. 

4. Every church desiring to share in the fellowship of the churches 
should make some adequate declaration of its fidelity to the doctrine 
which is according to godliness. It is therefore fit that every church set 
forth, in the form of a confession or catechism, the system of truth 
which it receives as the faith once delivered to the saints, which its fa- 
thers and teachers maintain by their ministry, and in which it trains its 
children. 

5. Any assembly of elders or messengers, representing a body of 
churches, local or national, is competent to testify, in the form of a con- 
fession, what system of doctrines is received and maintained in the 
churches which it represents. Or any body of Christian men, being 
called thereto in the providence of God, may frame and publish, as a 
confession of their faith, a declaration of the truths which they receive 
as revealed from God by his word and Spirit. Such confessions of faith 
have often been useful for the refutation of injurious reproaches, or for 
the confirmation of the truth. 

6. The right use of confessions of faith is not for separation and mu- 
tual exclusion among Christians, but rather for mutual information and 
confidence, and the manifestation of unity. For this purpose, inasmuch 
as the Scriptures are often perverted, and docti'ines subversive of the 
faith once delivered to the saints are brought in among the churches, it 
sometimes becomes reasonable and fit for churches, or for representative 
assemblies, not only to testify and confess, but also to bear witness 
against doctrines contrary to the gospel of Christ, and dangerous to the 
souls of men. For Christian unity is not to be maintained by compro- 
mises with doctrines which corrupt the word of God, but only by adhe- 
rence to the truth as it is in Jesus. Yet no confession of faith or testimony 
against error is to be set up in place of the Scriptures, which are the only 
standard and unerring rule of faith, and with which all human formula- 
ries are to be constantly and diligently compared. 

PART IV. — THE MINISTRY. 

CHAPTER I. — THE PREACHING OF THE WORD. 

1. While those whom the church chooses and ordains to be its pastors 
and teachers are, by virtue of their office, jDreachers of the gospel, labor- 
ing in word and doctrine, the Congregational churches have always 
acknowledged that the work of preaching is not exclusively a function of 
church officers. Fit men^ not bearing office in any church, but giving 



126 GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 

themselves to the work of preaching, have always been recognized 
among us as ministers of the word. 

2. • The necessity for a recognized class of ministers, not holding office 
in any church, is manifold. (1.) In preaching the gospel to every crea- 
ture, there is much to be done which can not be done by elders or bishops 
of churches, whose proper work is parocliial, and not missionary. (2.) 
There is, and ever must be, need of ministers, recognized as such, who 
can supiDly, by occasional and temporary ministration, the lack of service 
in churches that have no preaching elders. (3.) Those who are to teach 
and train men for the ministry must needs be ministers, recognized as 
such among the churches, and esteemed for their zeal and power in hold- 
ing forth the word of life; and yet they can not ordinarily be at the same 
time officers in the churches. (4.) Under every theory of church order, 
there must be, in fact, a class of men accredited in some way, and recog- 
nized as qualified by natural endowments, by learning and study, and by 
the work of the Holy Spirit on their souls, to preach the word ; among 
whom the churches may find fit men to be their pastors and teachers. 
(5.) Kor can the churches consent that when a pastor, for any good rea- 
son, resigns his office, and is discharged with commendation as a good and 
faithful servant of Christ in the gospel, he shall thenceforth cease to be 
reputed and recognized as a minister of the word. (6.) It is abundantly 
evident from the Scriptures, that, in the beginning, there were many 
ministers of the word, beside the elders who were ordained in every 
church ; and that while the distinctive work of the apostles was essen- 
tially extraordinary, ceasing with their lives, and transmitted to no suc- 
cessors, the work of ministers, not holding office in the churches, was a 
work which continues, and must continue, tiU Christ's catholic church on 
earth shall cease to be militant. 

3. Such ministers of the gospel, not being apostles, nor successors of the 
apostles, are invested with no apostolic authority; and, not being elders 
or bishops, they have no official place or power in any church (except 
when temporarily invited by any church) ; but each one, in the church 
with which he is in covenant, is only a member till the church shall 
call him to office either as a deacon or as an elder; and if he be 
called to office as an elder, laboring in word and doctrine^ then the com- 
munion of the churches will require that his induction into office shall be 
approved by a Council before he can be recognized as joastor by the 
neighbor churches. 

4. A minister who is not a member of some Congregational church is 
not in fact, and ought not to be, counted a minister in connection with 
the churches and ministry of the Congregational order, though he may be 
worthy of confidence and fellowship by virtue of his responsible connec- 
tion with some other body of evangelical churches. 

CHAPTER II. —CALL AND ORDINATION TO THE MINISTRY. 

1. As it was in the church at Antioch that Barnabas and Saul received 
their special call to the missionary work among the Gentiles, so, by 
parity of reason, the call of any brother to the work of a minister at 



GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 127 

large ought always to proceed from some church cognizant of his gifts 
and graces, and therefore competent to judge, in the first instance, whether 
he is called of God; nor ordinarily should the call jDroceed from any 
other church than that in which he is, or in which he is to be a member. 

2. As Barnabas and Saul, when sent from the church at Antioch on a 
mission to the Gentiles, were separated to their work by ordination; so 
it is fit, that, after reasonable trial, those who are called to minister in 
the word of God without holding the office of elders or bishops in any 
church, be solemnly commended to the grace of God, and, by the laying- 
on of hands and prayer, be separated to the work whereunto he hath 
called them. No church ought to ordain any without the approval of 
neighbor churches assembled in a council. , Yet it should be remem- 
bered that the ordination or installation is the act of the church, and that 
the duty of such council is not to exercise jurisdiction or authority over 
the church, but simply to advise and assist, and to express the fellowship 
of other churches in the transaction. We therefore commend the ancient 
custom, now too much disused, of calUng on the church, before the prayer 
of consecration and the giving of the charge, to renew their choice and 
call, and on the candidate to renew his acceptance of the call, in the pres- 
ence of the approving council and the witnessing assembly. Thus the 
ordination or installation will proceed by the authority which Christ has 
given to that church; and the council, as .representing neighbor churches, 
will give, in their behalf, the right hand of fellowship. 

3. When a minister, without pastoral charge, is accused of any scandal 
dishonorable to the ministry with which he is intrusted, or with teaching 
that which is contrary to the gospel, and dangerous to the souls of men, 
the church of which he is a member should seek the assistance of an 
ecclesiastical council in the trial of the case, and, if he be found guilty, 
should declare him to be deposed from the ministry, and then deal with 
him by admonition and excommunication, as with any other member. 

CHAPTER III. — ASSOCIATIONS OF MINISTEES. 

1. The experience of our churches, from the beginning, has proved 
that the frequent consultation of ministers with each other, so that the 
watchmen may see eye to eye, is of great importance to their efliciency 
in their work; and the formal association of pastors, not excluding other 
ministers, for mutual counsel and helpfulness, is an arrangement which 
has been greatly blessed of God for the welfare of the churches and the 
advancement of religion. 

2. An association of ministers has no jurisdiction or authority over 
the churches. It may give advice to its own members, or to any other 
persons asking its advice, on questions of church order or questions of 
doctrine ; but it can neither inflict nor remove any church censure. It 
forms its own rules concerning the qualifications and conditions of mem- 
bership, and in accordance with those rules it can admit members and 
exclude them ; but it can ordain no man to the ministry, nor can it depose 
any man from the ministry. If one of its members, whether a pastor or 
a minister without pastoral charge, is guilty of an ofiense for which he 



128 GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 

should be deposed from the ministry, it may not only exclude him from 
its fellowship, but may bring the matter to the notice of the church to 
which he is responsible. Or if any minister or professed minister of 
scandalous or heretical character is presuming to officiate in the churches 
of the vicinity, the association may take measures to bring the matter to 
the notice of the proper ecclesiastical authority, or, if necessary to the 
IDrotection of the churches and the vindication of the ministry, may give 
public notice that he is not in their fellowship. 

3. By the common consent and ancient usage of our churches, the 
recognized associations of pastors and other ministers are intrusted with 
the duty of examining those who are to preach as candidates for the 
ministry, and of commending them to the churches by letters of appro- 
bation, so that untaught or otherwise unfit persons may not intrude them- 
selves into the work of preaching. 

4. The associations of Congregational ministers, throughout the United 
States, have their own methods of correspondence with each other, and 
of mutual recognition, through general associations in the several states, 
or otherwise. 

CHAPTEE IV. — CANDIDATES FOR THE MINISTRY; THEIR EDUCATION, AND THE 
TRIAL OF THEIR GIFTS. 

1. Inasmuch as the work of ministering in the word of God, to the 
edification of the churches and to the advancement of religion, requires 
not only natural gifts of intelligence and discretion, and of utterance, 
but also a personal experience of the gospel as the power of God unto 
salvation, a hearty love to Christ and to the souls of men, and a com- 
prehensive knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and of the system of truth 
which they reveal, our fathers, at the beginning, made great endeavors 
and sacrifices to establish colleges consecrated to Christ and the church, 
that a faithful and competently learned ministry might be provided for 
their posterity, and for the country which they were redeeming from the 
wilderness. Colleges under Christian influence and control, and founded 
primarily for the education of men whom the churches may call to the 
ministry, are among the foremost of the voluntary institutions which 
accom^pany the prosperity of churches walking in the faith and order of 
the gospel; and the work of presiding and teaching in such institutions is 
a work in which consecrated ministers of the gospel may make fall proof 
of their ministry, and may obtain a place among those who have turned 
many to righteousness. 

2. In later times, the progress of society, and the increase and wide 
diifiision of knowledge, having changed in some degree the course of 
education in the colleges, so that other and special studies are now neces- 
sary to a full preparation for the ministry, theological seminaries have 
been founded, that those who ofier themselves to the service of Christ, in 
the preaching and defense of his gospel, and who have been disciplined 
by liberal studies and enriched with general knowledge, may be instructed 
in all kinds of sacred learning, and, under the guidance of teachers who 
are also able and faithful preachers of the word, and experienced in the 



GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 129 

care of souls, may, by God's blessing on their endeavors, prepare them- 
selves for the largest usefulness in the churches that may call them to 
office, and in the work of preaching the gospel to every creature. 

3. The credentials which a young man may receive from a college or 
a theological seminary are not sufficient for his introduction to the 
churches as a preacher. Still less may his own desire to preach, or the 
desire of his friends, and the commendation he receives from them, au- 
thorize him to offer himself as a candidate for the ministry, or make it safe 
for congregations to employ him for the trial of his gifts. Even at the 
beginning, when the churches were few, and not far distant from each 
other, it was soon found needful to institute some well-considered ar- 
rangement for the examination of candidates, and their orderly intro- 
duction to the churches. And inasmuch as it devolves on the pastors 
and teachers of churches to feed the several flocks of which the Holy 
Ghost hath made them overseers, and to take heed whom they severally 
introduce to preach the word, it was agreed that neighboring pastors 
should jointly exercise their right of examination and inquiry, before 
recognizing or commending a candidate as qualified to preach in public. 
It is therefore a long-established usage in the communion of our churches, 
that no man is to offer himself as a candidate for the ministry, or is to be 
received as such, without having been examined and approved by some 
recognized association of pastors. 

4. In the examination of a candidate, the association, having received 
evidence of his standing as a member in full communion of some evan- 
gelical chm-ch, with other testimonials to his blamelessness of life and 
his attainments in knowledge, inquires of him concerning his experience 
of the power of godliness, the reasons of his desire and choice to preach 
the gospel, the studies he has pursued, his knowledge especially of the 
system of doctrines contained in the Scriptures, and his readiness in the 
exposition and application of the word of God; and, having obtained 
satisfactory evidence of his fitness to preach in the churches for the trial 
of his gifts, the pastors and other ministers in that association assembled 
certify their approbation in a written testimonial. 

5. The person thus accredited is not yet recognized as a minister of 
the gospel, but is only a candidate for the ministry, temporarily com- 
mended to the churches, that they may make trial of his fitness for 
that sacred work; and till he shall be duly ordained to the ministry, the 
testimonial given to him may be withdrawn whenever that association, 
for any good reason, is no longer willing to be responsible for him. 

The remaining portion of the report was then read by Rev. 
Mr. Quint, of Massachusetts, of the same committee. 

EPITOME OE CHUKCH GOYEKNMEKT AND EELLOWSHIP. 

I. — GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 

I. Ecclesiastical polity, or church government, is that form and order 
which is to be observed in the Church of Christ. 
9 



130 GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 

II. The Holy Scriptures are the sufficient, exclusive, and obligatory 
rule of ecclesiastical polity. Church powers, therefore, are only admin- 
istrative, not legislative. 

III. Tor government, there is no one visible, universal church; nor 
are there national, provincial, diocesan or classical churches; but only 
local churches, or congregations of believers, and responsible directly to 
the Lord Jesus Christ, the one Head, of the Church universal, and of 
every particular church. 

ly. Each local church is complete in itself, and has all powers requi- 
site for its own government and discipline. But all churches, being in 
communion one with another, have such mutual duties as grow out of 
the obligations of fellowship. 

II. — OF A CHUKCH. 

I. Of its matter and form. 

1. A church is always to be composed of such as are judged to belong 
to Christ, and of none others. 

2. A church is a society of professed believers, united by a covenant, 
express or implied, whereby all its members agree with the Lord and 
with each other, to observe all the ordinances of Christ, especially in 
milted worship, and in mutual watchfulness and helpfulness. 

3. It is the duty of aU believers in Christ to unite in church fellow- 



4. Believers are added to the church by entering into covenant, upon 
the vote of the brotherhood, after due trial of their repentance from sin, 
and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

5. Members cease to be such, when they are recommended to, and 
received by some other recognized church; to which dismission and com- 
mendation they are always entitled, unless liable to some just censure. 

II. Of the officers of a church. 

1. Though officers are not necessary to the being of a church, they are 
to its well-being. 

2. The officers appointed by Christ's institution are bishops (or pas- 
tors and teachers) and deacons. Other persons, appointed for special 
duties, constitute no order of church officers. 

3. Church officers are to be chosen exclusively by the church to which 
they are to minister; and they may be dismissed, for cause, by the same 
authority. Yet, in the choice or dismission of a pastor, neighboring 
churches should be consulted, — both for advice, and for the sake of fel- 
lowship among the churches. 

4. ISTo man may be a pastor but one that is called of God to the work 
of the ministry. But the church judges of his fitness by due trial of his 
faith, grace, and abilities. 

5. Church officers are to be ordained, or solemnly inducted into their 
several offices ; and the ordination of a pastor involves his consecration 
to the ministry of the gospel. 

6. The work of a pastor is to labor in word and doctrine; and to rule, 
not as a lord over God's heritage, but with the consent of the brethren. 



GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP. 131 

The work of a deacon is to assist the pastor, not by ruling or teaching, 
but chiefly by " serving tables." 

7. The church should provide proper maintenance for the pastor. It 
is right also, that not only members of the church, but all who are taught 
in the word contribute to his support. When incorporated societies as- 
sume the maintenance of a pastor and teacher, it is also right that they 
have concurrent voice with the church in his election. 

III. Of church censures. 

1. It is the right and duty of every church to preserve its purity by 
the prevention and removal of offenses, and the recovery of offenders. 
This duty it can not depute to others, neither can others rightly assume it. 

2. In the treatment of offenses, the object is both to reclaim offenders, 
and to preserve the purity of the church in faith and practice. 

3. Church censures are of two sorts, — admonition and excommunica- 
tion. 

4. If one brother offend another, and does not acknowledge his fault, it 
is the duty of the brother aggrieved to follow the course which Christ 
has prescribed in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew, in the hope of win- 
ning his brother. If the grievance come before the church, the church 
should endeavor to recover the offender; and, failing that, it should 
admonish him, which of itself suspends him from church communion 
lintil the offense be removed. 

5. If an offense be public and scandalous, the church may proceed 
without such gradual steps, to try the offender, and, if it find cause, ad- 
monish or excommunicate him. 

6. When an offending brother makes penitent confession to the church, 
to its entire satisfaction, he is recovered and gained. If not fully satis- 
fied, the church should admonish him. If, in any case of admonition, the 
offender prove obstinate, he is, after reasonable delay, to be excommuni- 
cated by vote of the brotherhood. 

7. While one lies under the censure of excommunication, he is not to 
be received to spiritual communion in any church. But, upon repent- 
ance, he may be absolved of the censure and restored. 

8. Inasmuch as the first object is to reclaim the offender, all things 
should be done in a spirit of gentleness and meekness. In the trial of 
one who is accused, all proceedings should be conducted with equity and 
patience; and, in the decision, unnecessary harshness is not less to be 
avoided than remissness. 

9. If a brother claims to be aggrieved by any censure affecting his 
communion with other churches, or if a letter of dismission and recom- 
mendation is unreasonably refused, he may ask the church to join with 
him in requesting advice of the neighboring churches ; and, if the church 
refuse, may of himself request the churches to assemble by their messen- 
geis to inquire into his case, and to give him advice. 

III. — OF THE COMMUNION OP THE CHURCHES. 

I. Although churches are distinct and equal, yet they ought to pre- 
serve fellowship one with another, being all united to Christ their head. 



132 GOVERNMENT AND FELLOWSHIP, 

II. "When a company of believers propose to unite in a distinct church, 
it is requisite that they ask the advice and help of neighboring churches; 
particularly that those churches, being satisfied with their faith and 
order, may extend to them the hand of fellowship. 

III. Communion is to be exercised by recognizing each other's rights, 
by due regard to each other's welfare, and by consultation before acts of 
common concern. 

TV. Councils are the ordinary and orderly way of consultation among 
churches, and are proper in all cases where the communion of the churches 
is involved. 

1. In councils, the churches meet for consultation, usually by messen- 
gers (pastors and delegates) chosen for the special occasion. 

2. Councils are properly called of churches in the near vicinity, except 
when matters which excite strong local sympathies render the advice of 
distant churches necessary. 

3. Councils are called only by a church, or an unauthorized party in 
case of disagreement, when the church unreasonably refuses to join; that 
is, by a church desiring light or help ; by a church and pastor (or other 
member or members) in case of differences, when it is styled a mutual 
council; or by either of these parties when the other unreasonably 
refuses to unite, when it is styled an ex parte council; which ex parte 
council, when properly convened, has the same standing as if it had 
been mutual. 

4. Councils consist solely of the churches invited by the letters-missive, 
to which no member can be added, and from which none can be removed. 

5. Councils are convened when a church desires recognition; when a 
church asks for advice or help; when differences are to be composed; 
when men whose call of God is recognized by the church are to be sepa- 
rated to the ministry; when pastors are to be inducted into office or 
removed; when a brother claims to be aggrieved by church censure; 
when letters of dismission are unreasonably refused; when a church or 
minister is liable to just censure ; and when matters of common moment 
to the churches are to be considered. 

6. The decision of a council is only advisory. Yet, when orderly given, 
it is to be received as the voice of the churches, and an ordinance of 
God appointed in his word, with reverence and submission, unless incon- 
sistent with the word of God. But councils cannot overrule the acts 
of churches, so far as they are within the church, nor exercise govern- 
ment over them. 

7. "When in any case of difference, a council properly convened, 
whether mutual or ex parte^ has given its judgment, neither party can 
demand that another council be called, whether to re-examine the sub- 
stance of the question referred to the first, or to judge of its advice. 
An ex parte council in such case is manifestly disorderly, and without 
warrant. 

Y. Fellowship should be withdrawn from any church which is untrue 
to sound doctrine, — either by renouncing the faith or continuing to hear 
a teacher declared by council to be heretical; or which gives pu]3lic 



- COMMITTEES. 133 

scandal to the cause of Christ, or which wilfully persists in acts which 
break fellowship. When one cliurch finds such acts in another, it should 
admonish, and, if that fail, invite a council to examine the alleged 
ofiense. 

YI. Conferences of churches are allowable and profitable; but they 
hear no appeals, give no advice, and decide no question of church or 
ministerial standing. 

IV. — OF THE MINISTRY. 

I. The ministry includes all men called of God to that work, and 
orderly set apart by ordination. 

II. "When ordination of a pastor is to be performed, the church in 
which he is to bear oflEice invites a council to examine as to faith, grace, 
and ability, that, if he be approved, they may extend the hand of fellow- 
ship. If the ordination be in view of any other sphere of labor, the 
request for a council ought to come from the church of which he is a 
member. 

III. A pastor dismissed does not cease to be a minister; but he can 
not exercise any official act over a church until orderly replaced in office, 
except when particularly invited by a church. 

lY. In case a pastor ofiend in such a way that he should no longer 
be recognized as a minister, the church should request a council to ex- 
amine the charges, and, if it find cause, to withdraw all fellowship 
from him, so that his ministerial standing shall cease to be recognized. 
If a minister who is not a pastor be the offender, the church to which 
he belongs, or the church nearest his residence, should take the same 
course. 

Y. Associations of ministers are useful for mutual sympathy and im- 
provement. They can exercise no sort of authority over churches or 
persons, save to prescribe the rights and duties of their own member- 
ship. But common consent has recognized that their examination of 
candidates for introduction to the churches is a wise safeguard. 

On motion, the report was accepted. 

>Eev. Mr. Langworthy, of Massachusetts, from the committee 
on Nominations, reported the following committees : — 

Committee on the State of the Country. — Eev. Truman M. Post, D. D., 
Missouri ; Hon. Seth May, Maine ; Hon. James D. Bell, Yermont ; 
Hon. Milan Harris, ISTew Hampshire ; Hon. A. C. Barstow, Rhode 
Island ; Hon. Dudley E. Wheeler, Connecticut ; Judge Henry Morris, 
Massachusetts ; Bev. Oliver E. Daggett, d. d., 'New York ; Eev. John 
M. Holmes, New Jersey ; Eev. Edward Hawes, Pennsylvania ; Dea. 
Abner H. Bryant, Delaware ; Eev. Edwin Johnson, Maryland ; Eev. 
James A. Thome, Ohio ; Eev. John C. Webster, Illinois ; Dea. AUen 



134 COMMITTEES. 

rish, Michigan ; Hon. Edward D. Holton, Wisconsin ; Kev. Alden B, 
Bobbins, Iowa ; Kev. Charles Seccombe, Minnesota ; Hon. Samuel C. 
Pomeroy, Kansas ; Eev. EUsha M. Lewis, Nebraska Territory ; Luther 
P. Fisher, Esq., California ; Eev. Geo. H. Atkinson, Oregon ; Eev. 
Wm. Crawford, Colorado. 

Committee on Declaration of Faith. — Eev. John O. Piske, Maine ; 
Prof. Daniel J. Noyes, d. d., 'New Hampshire ; Eev. J^Tahum Gale, d. d., 
Massachusetts ; Eev. Joseph Eldridge, D. D., Connecticut ; Eev. Leon- 
ard Swain, d. d., Ehode Island ; Dr. Albert G. Bristol, JSTew York ; 
Eev. John C. Hart, Ohio ; Dea. Sherman S. Barnard, Michigan ; Eev. 
George S. P. Savage, Ilhnois. 

Committee on Communication from Massachusetts Convention of Con- 
gregational Ministers. — Eev. Alonzo H. Quint, Massachusetts ; Eev. 
William T. Eustis, Connecticut ; Asa Preeman, Esq., JSTew Hamp- 
shire. 

Committee on Platform of Church Polity. — Eev. John P. Gulliver, 
Connecticut ; Prof. Samuel Harris, Maine ; Eev. ^N'elson Bishop, Ver- 
mont ; Eev. Edwards A. Park, D. D., Massachusetts ; Eev. Josiah G. 
Davis, New Hampshire ; Eev. Joshua Leavitt, D. D., New York ; Prof. 
Samuel C. Bartlett, Illinois ; Eev. Jesse Guernsey, Iowa ; Eev. Charles 

C. Salter, Minnesota ; Judge Lester Taylor, Ohio ; Eev. James S. Hoyt, 
Michigan ; Eev. James D. Liggett, Kansas. 

Committee on Pesponse to Foreign Delegations. — Eev. Leonard Bacon, 

D. D., Connecticut ; Eev. Henry Ward Beecher, I^ew York ; Eev. 
Julian M. Sturtevant, D. D., Illinois ; Eev. Eufus Anderson, d. d., Mas- 
sachusetts ; Hon. James B. Walker, Michigan. 

These several reports were accepted and adopted. 

Rev. Dr. Kirk, of Massachusetts, in behalf of the churches 
of Boston, though without any official authorization, invited the 
members of the Council, so far as convenient to them, to be pres- 
ent in the church meetings, held in the city this evening. He 
also stated that a book written by the Rev. Horatius Bonar, D. D., 
called, "Words to the Winners of Souls," had been reprinted 
by the American Tract Society, and that a copy would be pre- 
sented to every member of the Council, through the liberality 
of distinguished friends of the church and the ministry who had 
made a special donation for that purpose. 



EVANGELIZATION -IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 135 

EYAKGELIZATIOK IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 

The moderator called on the committee upon " Evangeliza- 
tion in the West and South " for their report ; and it was read 
by Warren Currier, Esq., of Missouri (the rule fixing the hour 
of adjournment at 5 o'clock being suspended, on motion of 
Hon. C. G. Hammond, in order that the reading might be com- 
pleted this afternoon) , as follows : — 

The subject on which this committee is required to report presents 
itself to their minds under two distinct aspects, each of which will prop- 
erly and almost necessarily, in a greater or less degree, engage the atten- 
tion of the National Council. 

Foremost meets us the great fact, which has been a sublime character- 
istic of our whole history as a people, that our population is always spread- 
ing itself over vast regions hitherto unoccujDied by civilized man, and re- 
quiring the unceasing activity of all Christian people to accompany the 
emigrant to the wilderness, with Christian instruction, and make the 
institutions and influences of the rehgion of Christ coextensive with our 
physical civilization. 

To this fact, at the moment when we are called together to consider 
the greatest crisis in our nation's history, is added another of a still more 
solemn and momentous import: that, over one half of our hitherto peo- 
pled territory, Christian institutions, though once existing in a greater 
or less degree of purity and efficiency, have been corrupted by slavery, 
and well-nigh obliterated by the ravages of war connected with the 
slaveholders' rebelhon. 

Regions of country larger than a great European empire are thus left 
in moral desolation, imposing on the Christian people of our nation the 
imperative and most urgent duty of building again, in these waste 
places, the institutions of a Christian civilization. 

In this view of the home missionary work now devolved upon us, 
there is nothing denominational. It appeals to the whole American 
church, and to every American Christian, simply as such. 

But there is another aspect of the subject, which is not without its 
importance, and which we believe the National Council can not alto- 
gether disregard. 

We are as sure that God chose and called the early fathers of New 
England to be the founders of this nation, as we are that he chose Abra- 
ham to be the founder of his ancient people. They were men whom he 
had trained and qualified for the work to which they were appointed. 
And it ought not to be assumed, without proof, that the pecuHar concep- 
tion of the church which they brought with them to the shores of New 
England, and which was the seed from which have sprung all the 
churches represented in this Council, had no value in the estimation of 
the Divine Architect of our national edifice. This Council is bound by 
the most solemn obligations rightly to estimate the value of that unique 



136 EVA]^GELIZATION IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 

conception, and to recommend to the clinrclies such a system of home 
evangelization as shall fully recognize its importance as a universal and 
permanent element of American society. 

During a considerable portion of our history, our home missionary 
arrangements have been such as apparently to concede that the Congre- 
gational idea of the church was of no especial value, — well enough in 
New England, where it was already established, but, west of the Hud- 
son, for the most part inapplicable and impracticable. If that view was 
sound and just, then all effort to plant distinctively Congregational 
churches in the new regions of our country is worse than useless: If 
Congregationalism has no mission except to add one to the number of 
religious sects, which divide and distract the household of faith, then far 
better confine itself within the limits of New England, and consign at 
once all its emigrant population to the care of those centralized church 
governments which always stand ready to receive and assimilate them. 
But if the Congregational conception of the church is true and pre- 
cious, — if it is as well fitted to all latitudes and longitudes as to New 
England, and is really an important element of American civilization, 
and of the brighter and better ages of the promised future, — then these 
Congregational churches are bound to be true to their fundamental 
principles. In this system of home evangelization, they are bound to put 
forth their strength, not only to accompany our emigrant population with 
the gospel of Christ, but. to plant the church, after the conception of the 
Pilgrim Fathers, wherever they make their home on the borders of the 
wilderness. 

We trust the Council will have in view both these aspects of the case, 
in all the advice it may give to the churches. 

In order to present a survey of our home missionary work with as 
much clearness ^s possible, we shall divide it into four parts. 

First. Those portions of the West and North-west in which numerous 
churches have been already planted by our missionary efforts, many of 
which are still dependent, in part, on missionary funds for their support. 
Second. Certain districts of the same States, in which our missionary 
efforts have hitherto been attended with little success, and in which few 
churches are now receiving our aid. 

Third. The new States and Territories of the West and North-west 
toward which the tide of emigration is now setting, and is likely to flow 
in the immediate future. 

Fourth. The States of the South and South-west which have been the 
principal theater of the great rebellion. 

Of thejirst of these divisions, the committee have little to say: not be- 
cause the work of evangelization in that section of our field is complete, 
nor because what remains to be done is not vastly important, but only 
because the condition of other sections of the field is so critical, and their 
claims so urgent. In respect to these more favored parts of our home 
missionary field, it should not be forgotten, that there yet " remaineth 
much land to be possessed." The prominent centers of influence are, for 
the most part, occupied. The towns and villages along the thoroughfares 



EVANGELIZATION IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 137 

of travel and traflBc are generally supplied with gospel ministrations. 
But, in the wide intervals between the railroads, and remote from the 
villages, a great majority of the population is beyond the influence of the 
churches we have planted, and is very inadequately supplied with relig- 
ious privileges. Unless this rural population is brought more directly 
under gospel influences, and their children and youth are furnished with 
better opportunities for Christian education, we have great reason to fear 
the results which must follow. These wide fields, neglected, will become 
moral wastes, whose population will have no sympathy with the senti- 
ments and institutions which have been the glory of our land. 

To meet the wants of this part of our field. Sabbath-schools, prayer- 
meetings, family visitation, and colportage ought to be sustained by the 
voluntary efibrts of the self-denying men and women of adjacent churches. 
But, in addition to this instrumentality, we need a class of missionaries 
who go forth, not to seek eligible settlement in a community that is pre- 
pared to welcome and support them, but who, in the spirit of Paul, are 
wilUng to build where no man has yet laid a foundation. 

There is scarce a county, even in the most favored portion of the 
!N'orth-west, that does not contain waste places which would repay the 
best religious culture we could bestow upon them. 

The second division embraces large portions of Southern Illinois and 
Indiana, and probably, also, important districts in other States, with 
which the committee are less accquainted. 

In these districts, so far as the knowledge of the committee extends, 
our home missionary efibrts in the past have been crowned with little 
success, and at present, and for several years just past, we are scarcely 
attempting any thing. They are passed by as fields for which, at pres- 
ent, little or nothing can be done. But they are not passed by because 
there is no need of doing any thing for them. 

It may be said that other denominations have the ground, and there- 
fore for us, as Congregationalists, there is no room. 

If other denominations do have the ground, they occupy it most ineffi- 
ciently and unsatisfactorily. The people are not taught. The Sabbath 
is not made a day of rehgious rest and instruction. Ignorance, both of 
things secular and divine, widely prevails. In all these respects, a state 
of things exists which can not extensively prevail in our country, without 
disqualifying us to continue long a free people. The truth of the case 
is, that the districts in question are not in such a sense preoccupied by 
other denominations as to relieve us from the obligation of further efibrt, 
until, by a fair experiment, it is proved that there is nothing more which 
we can do. 

If our home missionary effort must be limited to the organization of 
churches from materials found ready to our hands, and to the aiding of 
churches so formed till they become self-sustaining, then it is difficult to 
see what more can be done for these districts than we are now doing. 
But why must our efforts be circumscribed to such limits? Why should 
we wait till some church or community is ready to invite a missionary 
to labor with them, and to assume a part of the resiDonsibility of his 



138 EVANGELIZATION IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 

support? Why should we rather not send forth into such districts de- 
voted men, with their support fully guaranteed, to labor where they 
can find a field, and to preach Christ where they can find hearers, — leav- 
ing it to their judgment to bestow their labors where the best results are 
to be expected, and to organize churches where there is promise of per- 
manence and usefulness? That in this way sinners can be converted to 
Christ, and churches founded and multiplied, which will prove blessings 
to generations yet unborn, no believer in the adaptation and power of 
the gospel is at liberty to doubt. 

In this section of which we are speaking, there are certain points of 
great and growing importance, where the pojDulation is already large 
and is rapidly increasing; but rehgious people are few, and religious 
privileges scarce and meager. At such points, the committee believe, 
missionaries should at once be stationed and sustained, till they can 
gather around them congregations able to support them. Houses of 
worship should also be provided in such fields, either wholly by the Con- 
gregational Union, or partly by them and partly by such contributions 
as liberal men on the spot are willing to make. 

Enterj)rises thus commenced should be adequately sustained till they 
can stand alone. It would perhaps be invidious and unwise to name 
particular places which should be thus occupied. But the committee are 
of the opinion, that places may be found in these districts where enter- 
prises of this sort have already been delayed years too long. Until such 
efibrts have been made and have failed, it is the judgment of the com- 
mittee, that the conclusion is premature that nothing can be done for 
these districts. Till such attempts are made, the few brethren now scat- 
tered over these regions, and struggling almost alone against prejudice 
and abounding wickedness, will not cease to feel and to lament their lack 
of the earnest and eflicient co-operation of the churches in more favored 
sections of the country. 

Our third division of the field consists of those new States and Ter- 
ritories toward which the tide of emigration is now setting in great 
force. 

It will be no easy matter for the members of the iN'ational Council to 
bring their minds up to a conception of the vastness and urgent impor- 
tance of this field of Christian efibrt. 

North of the south fine of Kansas, extended to the Pacific, and west of 
the Mississippi, excluding Missouri, there is an area of territory belong- 
ing to the United States of one milhon three hundred thousand square 
miles. Embraced in this area are the States of Iowa, Minnesota, Kan- 
sas, Oregon, Nevada, and a part of California, and the Territories of 
Nebraska, Dacotah, Colorado, Utah, Washington, Idaho, and Montana. 
Within these limits are four tenths of the entire territory of the United 
States, equal to twenty times the area of New England, twenty-six times 
that of the State of New York, and one hundred and sixty times that of 
Massachusetts. 

In 1860, the above States and Territories had a population of one mil- 
lion three hundred and eighty-five thousand one hundred and fifty-three, 



EVANGELIZATION IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 139 

which now undoubtedly exceeds two millions. Until 1859, the popu- 
lation was confined mostly to the States on the Mississippi and the 
Pacific, and those parts of Kansas and ISTebraska contiguous to the Mis- 
souri Eiver. The whole mountain region, aside from the Mormon set- 
tlements in Utah, was uninhabited, and, to a great extent, unexplored. 
Since that time, many thousands have made houses, either temporary 
or permanent, in the mountains, and four new Territories have been or- 
ganized, since 1861, along the mountain ranges. The great Platte Yal- 
ley, stretching eastwardly from the mountains to the Missouri Eiver, a 
distance of five or six hundred miles, has become an immense thorough- 
fare of travel and transportation to the mountain Territories and Pacific 
States, This results, in a great measure, from the discovery of the 
precious metals in various localities, over a large extent of country. 
This first caused the settlement of California, and is now, with equal 
rapidity, peopling the fastnesses of the Eocky Mountains. Wherever 
gold has been found, cities and villages are springing up with mar- 
velous rapidity. There is no longer any doubt as to the richness 
and inexhaustibleness of the gold deposits in these regions. And as 
gold has always proved a mighty motive power, we may infer, with 
certainty, that with increasing facilities for reaching the mining locali- 
ties, with improved machinery for obtaining the precious metals, and 
with the aid of the surplus caiaital of the Eastern States, the tide of 
emigration will increase in volume from year to year. The vast agricul- 
tural regions of Kansas, ISTebraska, and Iowa will find a remunerative 
market for their productions in this mining region. Thus the one will 
help the other, and both will develop together. 

Such are the elements of growth and progress which this wide region 
contains within itself; and we can not doubt it will soon be occupied with 
a multitudinous po^Dulation. The foundations of those future States are 
now being laid; and their character and influence will, to a great extent, 
be determined by these early beginnings. 

Another very material fact in its bearings on the growth of these new 
States and Territories is the construction of the great Union Pacific 
Eailroad. Chartered by Congress, and liberally endowed by the gen- 
eral government, this road is to connect the Missouri Eiver with the Pa- 
cific Ocean, and carry the facilities for travel and commerce through all the 
vast interior. This work is actually in process of construction at both 
ends of the line. And such is the influence of railroads in developing 
the resources of a country, in stimulating enterprises, increasing the 
value of property, and contributing to the growth of towns and cities, 
that we doubt not the completion of this road to the mining region will, 
in a brief period, quadruple its population, while, at the same time, it 
will add greatly to the population and wealth of the Missouri and Mis- 
sissippi Valleys. 

Emigration to the mountains tends strongly to concentrate in cities, 
thus affording greater facilities for preaching the gospel, and rendering 
delay in sending it more perilous. This population is enterprising and 
energetic, and ready to aid liberally in the support of the gospel, and in 



140 EVANGELIZATION IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 

building houses of worship. And yet they are exposed to many and 
peculiar temptations, and, without the influence of the gospel, they are 
exceedingly exposed to the worst vices which corrupt society. 

Among the inhabitants of these new States and Territories are not a 
few members of Congregational churches, and many sons and daughters 
of New England, who love her sim]31e church polity, and believe it better 
fitted to develop and elevate man than any other. From the " Congre- 
gational Quarterly" of January, 1865, we learn that these numerous 
States and Territories, with their two millions of people, had, one year 
ago, two hundred and seventy Congregational churches, with an aggre- 
gate membership of a httle more than ten thousand. They had, also, 
one hundred and eighty-two ministers, either supplying these churches, 
or laboring in new settlements, where churches were not yet organized. 
In the four mountain Territories and the State of Nevada we have, by 
report, but three churches, and an equal number of ministers. Yet 
the population to-day probably exceeds two hundred thousand, with 
the certain prospect of a very large increase. 

It seems to the committee that this portion of our home missionary 
field ought to be most seriously considered by all the churches repre- 
sented in this Council. Here is a call for new zeal and increased efii- 
ciency in the prosecution of the home missionary work, in order to carry 
it forward upon a scale commensurate with the vastness of the field to 
be cultivated. 

The other portion of the home missionary field, which demands our 
attention, embraces the States that have just been redeemed from sla- 
very, and are thus opened to a pure gospel, and to churches founded on 
the principles of Congregational freedom. 

In the survey of this field, the first feature which arrests our attention 
is the peculiar condition of the four millions of people now emerging 
from slavery into manhood and the light and liberty of the sons of God. 
Deprived hitherto of all opportunities for education, they now hunger 
and thirst after learning. Never before did any people manifest such 
eagerness to acquire the rudiments of education, and the knowledge of 
God's word. In Virginia, North and South Carolina, and along the 
banks of the Mississippi, they began, early in the war, to come within 
our lines, and were immediately provided with schools and teachers by 
the American Missionary Association. In the progress of the war, this 
work has continually grown in magnitude and importance, until, by the 
overthrow of the rebellion, the whole colored population of the South 
are soon to be brought within the reach of Christian teachers and mis- 
sionaries. Never was a missionary field more inviting. The soil is rich 
and mellow, and all prepared for the " good seed of the kingdom." 
Blessed are they that shall so cultivate this field as to reap the rich har- 
vest of which it is capable. 

How far the way is open for home missionary labors among the white 
people of the South, the committee is unable to speak with much defi- 
nit.eness, for the want of accurate information. But we rejoice to know 
that hostile armies no longer overrun those States. The rebellion is 



EVANGELIZATION IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 141 

criTslied, and the way is prepared for a thorough and accurate survey 
of the moral desolation which slavery and war have left in their track. 
Let such survey speedily be made, and the result laid before the 
churches. In the mean time, the following facts, reported from certain 
portions of the field, which have been longer under Federal control, and 
therefore better known, may be takAi as specimens of the whole. 

Missouri, in its general condition and history, may be taken as repre- 
senting, in the main, the region of country under consideration, and is, in 
position, territory, and population, no inconsiderable part of it. In 1860, 
it had the largest white population of any of the slave States, and is, in 
territory, larger than the whole of 'New England, and much richer in 
natm-al resources. But, from its earliest settlement, slavery has been 
there, paralyzing its energies, depressing its industry, corrupting its 
politics, perverting its theology, and poisoning the whole surrounding 
atmosphere. From this blighting curse, the State is now delivered, by a 
war undertaken in the interest of slavery, and having for its object its 
perpetuation and lasting domination over a continent. 

While emancipation in Missouri is a consequence of the wat, it is a 
consequence wrought out through conviction, — a radical change in the 
ojDinions and feelings of the people. It is not the result of military coer- 
cion operating upon the elections. It rests on the deliberate choice of 
the people, ascertained through the ballot-box, and that, too, by a most 
decisive and significant majority. "An ocean of changed thought and 
feeling " has rolled over the State in these last four years. And what 
has happened in Missouri in this respect, we believe wiU be found, to a 
considerable extent, to be true in the other slave States. 

Missouri came into the Union in a convulsive struggle that shook the 
nation. Kew England protested; but her protest was unavailing, and 
for the time slavery triumphed. This was forty-five years ago. On the 
11th day of January last, she was born again, amid the rejoicings and 
congratulations of millions of freemen, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

In January, 1852, there was not a Congregational church in this State. 
Kine years later, at the outbreak of the slaveholders' rebellion, there 
were two, and the only two in the slave States, — one at St. Louis, and 
one at Hanmbal, both situated on the eastern boundary line of the State, 
and together containing scarcely more than three hundred members. At 
this date ten are reported, and the door is wide open for the j^lanting of 
as many more as Christian zeal and enterprise may elect. Old temples 
and altars have been thrown down. The priests of slavery, with their 
followers, are scattered and gone, or are fast going. The society of 
Missouri is no longer suited to their tastes. They prefer a hiding-place 
anywhere else to the scene of their former pride, where all is now so 
changed, and where the friends of the Union and the enemies of slavery 
are in the popular ascendant. 

What has been said indicates, in general, the state of things in Mis- 
souri. To a great extent, except in a few counties, it is, in respect to 
religious organizations, a mighty waste. We give an example or two, 
by way of illustration: Jefierson City, the capital of the State, is situ- 



142 EVANGELIZATION IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 

ated on the south bank of the Missouri Eiver, one hundred and twenty- 
five miles west of St. Louis, with which it is connected by railway. It 
has a population of about four thousand. In 1861, it had four churches, 
representing as many different denominations, viz., Presbyterian (O. S.), 
Baptist, Episcopal, and Methodist (South). All these churches are now, 
or were as late as March last, closed. Ko services have been held in the 
Presbyterian church for four years, and only occasionally, if at all, in the 
three others, during the same period. A Methodist church (Korth) has, 
in the mean time, been organized, and a small house of worship erected, 
of dimensions to accommodate, perhaps, a hundred and fifty persons. 
This IS the only Protestant house of worship now in use in the capital 
of the State of Missouri, although it has been constantly within the Fed- 
eral lines, and in daily connection with St. Louis. 

If such a state of things exist in the protected capital, it is not to be 
imagined that religious institutions are in a more' satisfactory condition 
where bushwhackers and guerillas have roamed at large. 

In a growing town of some two thousand inhabitants, on the Pacific 
Eailroad, west of Jefferson City, no church organization or house of wor- 
ship exists. An agent of the American Missionary Association visited 
it last summer, and was much encouraged by the friendly temper of the 
people, and their readiness to hear. His chief difiiculty, during his short 
stay, was to find a room large enough to accommodate those who wished 
to attend upon his services. 

It is believed that these are only specimens, tending to give a true idea 
of the condition of a large part of the State. And, as far as the commit- 
tee can judge from the information in their possession, they believe a 
very similar state of things exists in all the States, which, at the outbreak 
of the rebellion, were under the controlling influence of slavery. Reli- 
gious organizations existing previous to the rebellion are overturned. 
The church, in its various denominations, was as thoroughly pervaded 
and corrupted by slavery as the State, and as completely involved in the 
rebellion, and consequently has been equally dissolved and desti'oyed by 
the overthrow of slavery and the rebellion. And, if the work of political 
reconstruction is to tax the mind and heart of the nation to the utmost, 
the reconstruction of religious society in the South is a work no less dif- 
ficult and momentous. If the restoration of government in the South 
on the basis of universal freedom is the trial question of our political in- 
stitutions, the restoration of religious society on the basis of the gospel 
of Christ is no less the trial question of our Protestant Christianity. 

JSTo graver question at present demands the attention of the churches 
which we represent, than the inquiry, "What part in this mighty work 
belongs to those men and those churches which adhere to that conception 
of the church which found its way to this continent in the cabin of the 
May-flower? " The committee certainly is not prepared fully to answer 
this question. But to say, that, in all this, Congregationalism is to have 
no share, seems to us like saying that the principles of that polity are 
not worthy of what our Pilgrim Fathers sufl'ered for them, nor of the 
tenacity with which we hold them. If we have a conception of the 



EVANGELIZATION IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 14o 

church which must be laid aside before we can enter upon the greatest 
Christian enterprise of the nineteenth century, the sooner we discard it 
everywhere the better, that we may take up some other poUty, which is 
capable of universal application. 

In reconstructing religious society at the South, it seems to the com- 
mittee as most obviously important, to adopt a policy analogous to that 
pursued in military affairs. There are many cities and large towns 
which are as truly strategic points in our moral as in our carnal warfare. 
'No time should be lost in taking possession of them in the name of our 
Great Captain, and in erecting in them fortresses of evangelical truth, 
furnished with all the munitions of spiritual warfare. Persons who, in 
connection with the army, have had opportimity to study the South, 
testify on this point with great unanimity and earnestness. 

Commencing at Cairo, Illinois, every considerable town on the Missis- 
sippi and its tributaries, quite down to the Gulf, should receive early and 
earnest attention. 

At Memphis, an organization has already been effected, under favor- 
able auspices, and a self-sustaining church established. 

In Kew Orleans, a handful of men, noble and true, are. already soli- 
citing our co-operation. Congregational polity was once at home in 
Charleston, and in Savannah, and other parts of Georgia-. Is it not our 
duty to make haste to rebuild what slavery has corrupted and destroyed? 

In Wilmington, Korfolk, Richmond, Baltimore, and Washington, and 
doubtless in many less prominent cities of the Atlantic States of the 
South, we may soon expect openings for the introduction of a pure gos- 
pel, and the estabUshment of permanent religious institutions, by our 
instrumentalities, for home evangelization. In the prosecution of this 
great work, why should we not imitate the example of the apostolic age? 
The apostles of Christ were appointed to plant the Christian church, not 
for the Roman Empire, but for the world; not for one age, but for all 
time. They began, indeed, at Jerusalem ; but, as soon as they began to 
go abroad from that center, they hastened to the centers of that influence 
which controlled the world, — the cities that lay around the Mediter- 
ranean Sea. In them they preached the gospel, and planted churches; 
and from Ephesus and Phihppi and Thessalonica and Corinth and Rome, 
the gospel spread into the surrounding populations. 

The Valley of the Mississippi is the Mediterranean region of this con- 
tinent; and in the great centers of influence in this valley our work must 
begin. These strategic points must be speedily garrisoned for Christ; 
and it must be done by hands that are clear of all participation in the 
great rebellion. 

To no portion of the Christian people of the United States does the 
call to engage in this great religious enterprise come more imperatively 
than to the churches represented in this Council. In this connection, 
the committee deem it proper to call attention to the following passage, 
from " Bancroft's History of the United States," volume i., pp. 467-8. 
*' I have dwelt the longer on the character of the early Puritans of l!^ew 
England," says the historian, " for they are the parents of one third of 



144 EVANGELIZATION IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 

the white population of the United States. In the first ten or twelve 
years^ — and there was never afterward any considerable increase from 
England, — we have seen that there came over twenty-one thousand two 
hundred persons, or four thousand families. Their descendants are now 
(1834) not far from four millions. Each family has multiplied, on the 
average, to one thousand souls. To New York and Ohio, where they 
constitute one half of the population, they have carried the Puritan sys- 
tem of free schools ; and their example is spreading it through the civilized 
world." 

If this calculation be brought down to the present time, it will be found 
that the descendants of the earl}^ Puritans of JSTew England now number 
about ten millions, and that they have not only carried the Puritan sys- 
tem of free schools to New York and Ohio, but that they have carried 
these, and all the ideas and institutions of a society founded on the doc- 
trine of the equal rights of man, beyond the Great Lakes, beyond the Mis- 
sissippi and the Missouri, to the banks of the Columbia, and the shores of 
the Pacific. It is patent to every observant eye, that that great current 
of opinion which made the lamented Lincoln President of the United 
States", and overturned the iniquitous system of slavery, and with it the 
whole structure of Southern society, followed every where along the 
ramifications of this stream of New England emigration. It is no won- 
der that the rebels and their Northern allies proposed to leave New 
England out in the cold. New England ideas were found utterly in- 
compatible with the continued existence of slavery. 

What, then, so fit as that, in reconstructing society at the South on the 
basis of freedom and Christianity, large room should be given to the 
spirit, the principles, and the modes of organization, of these Puritan 
Fathers. It is not the business of the committee to urge this matter, 
^ut we religiously believe and honestly affirm, that, if our Puritan Fa- 
thers had brought to New England a centralized church government, they 
never could have exerted their mighty and benignant influence on the 
destinies of their country and the world. And we can assign no reason 
why their ideas are not just as precious and just as potent in restoring 
society at the South as they were in constructing it in New England. 
Bible principles never grow old, and their value and their ada]3tation 
undergo no change. 

The committee cannot refrain from expressing their full conviction,^ 
that, in this work of religious reconstruction, an indispensable condition 
of success is our hearty recognition of our equal brotherhood with the 
colored man, and our earnest endeavor to raise him to the full enjoyment 
of all the privileges of the gospel. God has overturned society in the 
South for the crime of trampling on the rights of the negro, and let no 
one think to restore it without fully recognizing his equal rights with the 
white man to citizenship, both under our government and in the kingdom 
of God. 

He who is no respecter of persons will surely frown on all such 
attempts, however cunningly conceived and zealously prosecuted. 

Such then is the vast work to which the providences of God call the 



EVANGELIZATION IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 145 

churches and people represented in this council. And what shall we 
say of the machinery needed to accomplish it? On this point we have 
but little to suggest. We see no necessity for any new organization. 
The American Hcmae Missionary Society and the American Missionary 
Association, those noble institutions through which we Lave been accus- 
tomed to act in the work of home evangelization, seem, in the good prov- 
idence of God, to be raised up especially for this very time. They have a 
prestige, an experience, and an adaptation, that .commend them to uni- 
versal confidence. 

The American Home Missionary Society, formerly the organ of another 
denomination as well as of our own, has, without its own seeking or ours, 
been released from any obligation which would have restrained its action 
in promoting the church polity of our Puritan Fathers. In the progress 
of events, the way seems now prepared for the universal acceptance of 
the anti-slavery principles which the American JVIissionary Association 
has always maintained. Both societies have therefore an open field, and 
both enjoy largely the confidence and sympathy of the churches. 

ISTor do we find any difficulty in recognizing the respective spheres of 
these two societies. For while no separation is or can be made by a 
geographical line, and still less by any invidious distinction of color, we 
yet discover, in 4;he past labors of the American Missionary Association, 
among the colored people of America, the West India Islands, and 
Africa, and in the ready facility with which it has adapted itself to the 
peculiar condition of this people at the South, an instrumentality provi- 
dentially prepared for their evangelization. We therefore commend to 
the churches this association for the work at the South, with special ref- 
erence to the freedmen. 

The American Home Missionary Society, on the contrary, is limited 
by its constitution to one specific work of aiding destitute communities 
and feeble churches to sustain the preaching of the gospel. For this dis- 
tinctive work, it will find comparatively little preparation among the 
freedmen ; but its glorious history, endearing it to the afiections of all 
the churches, points it out still as the chosen instrumentality for its spe- 
cific home missionary work in, all parts of our country, in the South, as 
far as the door may be opened, as well as in the Korth and Great West. 

With these limitations of special adaptation and constitutional provi- 
sion, each organization has a distinct work; and the field is so large, and 
the relation of the two societies so friendly, that each can expend its 
utmost energies without rivalry and collision. 

In this connection, we recognize the important mission of the Congre- 
gational Union, but forbear discussion of it here, since its claims are to 
be submitted outside of this report. 

It is not, then, neAv machinery which we want, but to give greatly in- 
creased efficiency to the machinery which we have, by supplying a vastly 
greater moving power. The great question before' this body is, how 
can this be done? It is perfectly obvious that our missionary societies 
cannot carry out the policy recommended in this report, without a large 
increase of their resources. They will need a yearly income of not less 
10 



146 EVANGELIZATION IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 

than half a million of dollars. Our resources for church building, and 
all the other auxiliary instrumentalities, will need also to be proportion- 
ably increased. 

How can such an increase be obtained? That is the question of this 
occasion. One thing the committee will suggest in answer to this in- 
quiry. We must determine, in good solemn earnest, to do the work where- 
unto God has called us. No man who has borne a part in the work of 
evangehzation in any of our new States and Territories within the last 
ten or fifteen years can have failed to see, and with sickness of heart to 
feel, that the American churches, after all, are not half in earnest in this 
work. In times of prevailing worldly prosperity, men of the noblest 
endowments of mind and heart, who have given themselves to this sa- 
cred cause in the true spirit of self-sacrifice, have found themselves left, 
like soldiers in the field, without arms, without ammunition, and without 
rations. If this state of things is to continue, the hope of accomplishing 
the glorious work which now invites our efforts will prove utterly falla- 
cious and delusive. The spirit of Christian self-sacrifice must not be 
confined to a few missionaries, teachers, and colporters, while the thou- 
sands of our Israel dwell in their ceiled houses, and suffer the house of 
G-od to lie waste. If we enter on this enterprise with some such all-per- 
vading earnestness as that with which we undertook the work of subdu- 
ing the great rebellion, there will be no difficulty in obtaining the need- 
ful resom'ces. It will be as it has been in the war. When men are 
needed, they can be had; and, when money is wanted, it will be poured 
out hke water. 

In closing this report, the committee present the following summary 
of the results to which they have come. 

1. In addition to the work to which our Home Missionary Societies 
have, for the most part, confined their labors, — that of planting and fos- 
tering churches where materials are found ready to their hand for form- 
ing them, — there is an imperative necessity that able and devoted men 
should be sent to labor for Christ where no churches exist and no mate- 
rials are ready for their formation. At whatever cost of men and money, 
the great centers of influence should at once be occupied by men divinely 
endowed for such a work; and their support should be drawn from mis- 
sionary fands, till their congregations are able to sustain them. 

2. That the time for efficient action is emphatically the present. In 
the West and North- West, our emigration is spreading itself over a field 
vaster than ever before ; and immediate and most efficient action is neces- 
sary to overtake and keep pace with this ever-swelling tide of popu- 
lation, in founding the institutions of Christianity, learning, and freedom. 
In all the late domain of slavery, society is dissolved, ecclesiastical organ- 
izations are broken up or paralyzed. By their sanction of human chattel- 
ism, and their complicity with the rebellion, the churches have become ut- 
terly demoralized, and are like salt that has lost its savor. Church edifices 
and school-houses are abandoned, and in wide districts the institu- 
tions of education and religion have no practical existence. In all these 
regions, now or never is the time to arise, and build the temple of the 



EVANGELIZATION IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 147 

Lord. If we neglect to occupy this inviting field of labor to which God 
now calls us, he may, we trust he will, raise up others who will cultivate 
and possess it for him. But, for us, it will be an opportunity for ever 
lost, a harvest season never to return. 

3. TTe can not perform our part in this work without a vast increase in 
earnestness, zeal, and self-denial in our churches. Without this, it Avill 
be impossible to command either the men or the money for the work. 
The resources and the strong young men of any community will always 
be where its heart is. If the heart of the church is in the world, her 
sons and her wealth will be there also; and she will be as powerless in 
promoting the cause of Christ, at home or abroad, as Samson was to 
meet the Philistines when his locks were shorn. 

Three questions the committee must leave unanswered, pressing, we 
trust, on the hearts of the JSTational Council. 

1. How can the requisite spirit of earnestness and self-consecration be 
imparted to the churches? 

2. How can our young men be induced, by thousands, to consecrate 
their hves to this holy cause? 

3. How can we raise the requisite pecuniary resources for a religious 
enterprise so vast, and so imperatively demanding immediate action? 

The American chiu-ch is in much the same relation to this great crisis 
that our government was to the rebellion at its outbreak. From whence 
will the Lord send deliverance? 

Warren Cueiiiee, 

Julian M. Stuetevant, 

Reuben G-ayloed, y Committee. 

Thomas E. Bliss, 

Flavel Bascom, 

At twenty minutes before five o'clock, the reading of the 
report was suspended, to afford Rev. Mr. Walker an opportu- 
nity to speak on the subject of the churches in Italy, in ac- 
cordance with the recommendation of the Business Committee ; 
but that gentleman not being present (through a misunder- 
standing as to the assignment), the reading of the report was 
resumed, and at its conclusion, it was accepted. 

The Doxology, " Praise God from whom all blessings flow," 
was then sung, and the Council adjourned. 

FOURTH DAY, SATURDAY, JUKE 17. 

The Council was called to order at 9 o'clock, by the moder- 
ator. Prayer was offered by Hon. Mr. Hammond, of Illinois. 

The minutes of yesterday were read, amended in some few 
particulars, and then approved. 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Bascom, of Illinois, Rev. Wm. Craw- 
ford, of Colorado, was added to the committee on the State of 
the Country. 



148 



THE ROLL. 



Rev. Mr. Quint, of Massachusetts, from the committee on 
Business, reported the order for to-day, as follows : — 

That after the reiiort of the committee on Credentials, and statements hy 
the chairmen of Liier committees, and by the scribe, the business consist 
in reading the papers on "Ministerial Support," "Ministerial Educa- 
tion," "Church Building," "Parochial Evangelization," and the "Sys- 
tematizing of Benevolent Contributions." That so many as can be read 
this morning be read, and the remainder be made the order for Mon- 
day. 

The committee also recommended that the following resolu- 
tions, which had been placed in their hands, be passed : — 

Besolved^ That, for the correction and certification of the list of dele- 
gates to this Council, the roll shall be called by the scribe after reading 
the minutes on Monday morning, and members who do not answer to 
their names, or whose presence is not attested by delegates, shall be 
stricken from the list. 

Besolved, That, in making up the roll of members of this Council, the 
committee on Credentials be requested and instructed to record the 
churches which they severally represent, and the residence of delegates, 
both mtnisters and laymen. 

Besolved^ That the committee on Credentials be directed, when record- 
ing the names of members, to insert the first name in full. 

Bev. Mr. Peekiks, of Massachusetts, said, in reference to the first 
resolution, that he thought some other time than Monday morning, 
when a great many would be unable to be present, would be better for 
calling the roll. He suggested Tuesday morning. 

Hon. Mr. Hammond, of Illinois, suggested Tuesday, at 12 o'clock, as 
the time. 

The amendment was accepted by Mr. Perkins. 

Eev. Mr. Eustis, of Connecticut, said it was desirable to have the list 
of delegates completed as soon as possible, with reference to the jDroposed 
trip to Plymouth. He therefore moved to amend by substituting Mon- 
day, at 12 o'clock, in the place of Tuesday. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon", of Connecticut, suggested that there was a surer 
way yet, which was by appointing a committee of one from each State 
and Territory, who should report a full roll of the delegates from that 
State or Territory. He thought there were delegates present from i^ew 
Jersey and Connecticut, and from other States, who could tell the names 
of all the members from those States. 

Eev. Mr. Perkins said there was no one from Massachusetts who 
could tell the names of all the delegates. 

Mr. Ayres, of Illinois, moved to amend by substituting 12 o'clock 
to-day as the time for calling the roll. 

This amendment was carried by a vote of 175 to 90. 



DEBATE ON EOLL. 149 

Rev. Mr. Allen", of Massachusetts, said that one of the reasons given 
for calling the roll, was, that the body might know what churches were 
represented. He supposed the Council were not to determine that mat- 
ter. He took it that the credentials which came from the different bodies 
settled that. 

Eev. E. P. IMARvrjT, of Massachusetts, said he believed it almost im- 
possible to make out an accurate list of delegates from the credentials. 
The committee had found a large number of them in duplicate, and, in 
some cases, three copies of the same credentials. In looking over two 
letters of the alphabet, he found, at one time, twenty duplicates. Many 
of those names were yet on the roll, and the committee wanted very 
much to find who of the persons whose names were on the roll were 
here, and, unless they could resort to this method, they should be obliged 
to circulate printed slips all through the house, which would take up a 
great deal more of the time than to call the roll. 

It was moved to amend the resolution by adding, that the 
names to which no response is made on the call of the roll 
to-day be called again on Monday, at 12 o'clock. 

This motion prevailed, by a vote of 86 to 75 and the motion, 
as amended, passed. 

The second resolution submitted by the Business Committee 
was then considered, to wit : — 

Besolved, That in making up the roll of members of this Council, the 
committee on credentials be requested and instructed to record the 
churches which they represent, and the residence of delegates, both min- 
isters and laymen. 

Dr. Patto]!?, of Illinois. I wish, in behalf of the committee on cre- 
dentials, to say, that that committee have never understood themselves 
to be the scribes of this body. All our business, as we suppose, is to 
see that persons who present proper credentials are allowed to come 
in as members of the body, and report their names ; and then our duty 
is ended, it being the duty of the scribes to make up the roll. The cre- 
dentials are in such a shape, that it would be impossible to tell what 
churches are represented. "We have credentials from Pennsylvania, for 
instance, certifying that so-and-so, from the Congregational churches of 
Pennsylvania, are entitled to seats, having been elected by conferences 
in the proper towns. In that State, they had a central committee, to 
which the conferences reported, and that central committee made out the 
credentials for all. 

Rev. Mr. QuiiSTT, of Massachusetts. In regard to that matter, I 
differ from our friend. In the first place, it is very important that 
we should know, from our record, what churches are represented in 
this body. That is the essential point. If persons coming here are with- 
out any credentials certifying how many churches and what churches 
they represent, it is, to begin with, evidence that they are not enti- 



150 DEBATE ON ROLL. 

tied to seats; and, to show that they are entitled to seats, they must 
bring additional facts, because the call is very explicit. But allow- 
ing that to pass, it is perfectly practicable to get this list; and any 
committee with a sufficient degree of energy, though they will have some 
work to do, will find it so. In the next place, although it is not the work, 
prima facie, of the committee on credentials, the person who drew the 
proposal up (for it did not originate with the business committee) 
thought that, inasmuch as they had had the papers, and understood the 
matter better than anybody else, it would be better to instruct them to 
do it. If that committee prefer not to do it, it is perfectly easy to ap- 
point another committee to perform that work. 

Kev. Dr. Todd, of Massachusetts. The point that is obscure in my 
mind is this. Does that resolution mean that I shall report myself as 
pastor of my church, and representing one fourth part of seventeen 
other churches, and that my fellow-delegates shall report that they rep- 
resent each one fourth part of seventeen churches? or what does it mean? 
I do not understand it. I can tell you the church of which I am pastor, 
and I can tell you the churches which are represented by our delegations ; 
but there are four in the delegation. 

Rev. Mr. Whittlesey, of Illinois. As one of the scribes, I want to 
make one remark in reference to this matter. I have spent two days of 
hard labor in getting this roll arranged in alphabetical order, under the 
States ; now, I think, from my experience, that it will take at least three 
or fom' days for any man, or any committee of this body, to do the work 
proposed in that resolution, and I do not think there is anybody here 
who has three or four days to spend on it. I move you, therefore, that 
that resolution be laid on the table. 

Tliis motion prevailed, and the resolution was laid on the 
table. 

The third resolution submitted by the Business Committee 
was then taken up for consideration, to wit : — 

Besolved, That the committee on Credentials be directed, when record- 
ing the names of members, to insert the first name in full. 

Eev. Mr. Whittlesey, of Ilhnois. I have taken great pains to get the 
ftill names, so far as it is possible; but, sir, the Council will see that it is a 
very great labor to get the full names of more than six hundred mem- 
bers. Whenever they are on the hst I have put them down, and I have 
put down a great many that are not on the list. I appreciate the re- 
marks of Mr. Quint, who, you all know, is a prince in statistics ; and I 
should be very glad to get the full names of the members, if I could; and 
if anybody whose name does not appear upon the roll in full will give it 
to me, I will insert it, but I will not engage to go round and find out 
the name of every man. I move that that resolution be laid on the 
table. 

The motion prevailed, and the report of the Business Coni- 
mittee on the order for the day was then accepted. 



DEBATE ON ROLL. 151 

Rev. Mr. Qutxt, of Massachusetts. The committee to whom the 
duty was assigned of presenting a report on the work of evangelization 
in the West and South, and in Foreign Lands, having, through inadvert- 
ence, reported only on the home department, I desire to offer this res- 
olution : — 

Besolved, That a committee be appointed to report upon the work of 
evangelization in foreign lands, that properly devolves upon the Congre- 
gational churches of the United States. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Beeclier, of Illinois, the motion was 
adopted. 

Rev. Mr. Dexter, of Massachusetts, moved the appointment 
of a committee to arrange in regard to the supply of pulpits in 
this vicinity, so far as the pastors of churches desire to receive 
assistance from the members of the Council. 

Rev. Dr. Thompson, of New York, moved that the matter be 
referred to the committee on Devotional Exercises. 

Rev. Mr. Dexter accepted this suggestion, and the motion, in 
that form, passed. 

Eev. Dr. Pattox, of Illinois. The committee on Credentials desire to 
present a question for the consideration of the Council, to wit: What 
shall be done when a primary has taken his place in this body, been en- 
rolled, and taken part in the proceedings, but leaves before the close of 
the session, and then the substitute appears, and wishes to occupy the 
seat for the remainder of the time? Many such cases exist, and are to 
exist, according to arrangements that are being made, and the commit- 
tee on credentials recommend the adoption of the following resolution : — 

Besolved, That when a delegate has appeared, and taken his seat in the 
body, but leaves before the close of the session, his alternate may occupy 
his place. 

Thus much I report as chairman of the committee. In my individual 
capacity, I propose to offer an amendment, — to add, " provided, that the 
traveling expenses of but one shall be paid from the appropriate fund." 

Eev. Mr. Taylor, of Illinois. Is it designed, that the names of both 
primary and substitute shall appear upon the list? 

Eev. Dr. Pattox. That question has not been considered. I am 
aware, sir, that it is an awkward arrangement at best; but we were dis- 
posed to favor those who had come here from a distance, as much as we 
consistently could. 

Eev. Prof. Bartlett, of Illinois. It seems to me that the adoption 
of this resolution would involve us in inextricable confusion, — make us 
a constantly fluctuating body. When men come here to do business, 
they are bound to do it, and do it through, and not commit it to other 
parties. I move the resolution be laid on the table. 



152 DEBATE ON ROLL. 

The motion prevailed, and the resolution was laid on the 
table. 

Eev. Dr. Beecher, of Illinois. I wish to move the appointment of a 
committee to accomplish -the object suggested by the chairman of the 
business committee, — that is, to obtain the names, in full, of the churches 
represented. I have approved of what has been done, in laying the mo- 
tions, in their existing form, upon the table, because I did not suppose 
it was the duty, either of the committee on credentials, or of the scribes, 
to accomplish this purpose ; and yet the value of the record of the doings 
of this body, as an historical document for future ages, will be very greatly 
affected by the consideration, whether we have the names of the churches 
represented, and the names of the members, in full, or not. It will be of 
less value, and of less interest all over the Union, if the names are not 
given in full, and also the churches represented; and yet, as the creden- 
tials were handed in, it was impossible for the committee on credentials 
to do it; it is impossible, with these credentials, for the clerks to do it. 
If it is done at all, it must be done by a committee from each State 
and Territory. I move, therefore, that a committee be appointed, from 
each State and Territory represented, to report, in full, the names of the 
pastors and delegates of such States and Territories, jDresent in this 
Council, and also the names of the associated churches which they re- 
spectively represent. 

Eev. Mr. Davis, of l!^ew Hampshire. The names of churches are 
much more important than the names of members. We can have the 
names of the churches, with a little care, and if we do not, we have no 
record of the authority by which we act. 

The question was then put, and the motion of Dr. Beecher 
carried. 

Hon. Mr. Douglas, of Connecticut, offered the following 

resolution : — 

jResolved, That the committee on Declaration of Faith, with the aid of 
the committee on platform, be instructed to report to this body, for its 
consideration and action, a catechism, compiling, in the most simple 
form, for the use of children, the faith and polity of the Congregational 
churches. 

Eev. Mr. G-ulliyer, of Connecticut. I object to the introduction of 
the resolution in this form. We have adopted rules which were drawn 
up for the express purpose of preventing the introduction of business in 
this way. I like the resolution, and like Mr. Douglas, as he knows, 
very much; but if we allow these things to be brought in here in this 
way, there will be no end to the confusion in which we shall be in- 
volved. 

The Moderator. It was read for information. 

Eev. Mr. Gulliver, of Connecticut. Yes, but if everything is read 



COMMITTEES. 153 

for information, it will lead to confusion. The rule is, that no busi- 
ness shall be brought up here until it has been before the business com- 
mittee. 

Hon. Mr. Douglas, of Connecticut. I know of no other way to get 
it before the committee. This is the legitimate, parliamentary way, in 
my mind to get it to the committee. I move its reference to the com- 
mittee. 

The Moderator. The motion is not in order. It can be presented 
to the chairman of the business committee, without being brought before 
this body, and it may be considered by the committee whether it shall 
be presented or not. 

Eev. Mr. Gulliver, of Connecticut. j^To, sir; the committee have no 
discretion in the matter. They are obliged to present the resolution. 
They simply arrange the order in which business shall be presented. 
We must entirely do away with the rule before this can be done. 

Eev. Mr. Bishop, of Vermont. If that is really the rule, that the 
business committee has no discretion, then I move that it be amended. 

Assistant Moderator Hammond read the rule, as follows : ^- 

" XY. It shall be the duty of the Business Committee to prepare a 
docket, upon which shall be entered all items of business which members 
of the Council may desire to bring before the body, and except by 
special vote of the Council, no business shall be introduced which has 
not in this manner passed through the hands of the committee." 

Eev. Mr. Bishop, of Vermont. I move that that rule be so amended, 
that the Business Committee present only what they deem proper. 

A delegate inqidred if that motion was in order, whether it ought not 
to go to the Business Committee? [Laughter.] 

The chair ruled the motion out of order. 

Rev. Dr. Stone of Massachusetts, from the committee on Hos- 
pitalities, announced that the contemplated excursion to Plym- 
outh would take place on Thursday of next week. 

Rev. Mr. Gulliver, of Connecticut, from the committee to 
whom was referred the report on church polity, stated that the 
committee had held two meetings, but had been unable to pro- 
cure a copy of the report, — the one read to the Council having 
been taken by the scribe and pasted into the minutes. 

After some discussion, the scribe was instructed, on motion 
of Rev. Dr. Patton, to deliver the report to the committee. 

On motion of Dea. Stoddard, of Massachusetts, it was — 

Voted, That the addresses on letters to the members be read here, but 
that they shall not be delivered here, but in the room below. 



154 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 

MIKISTEKIAL SUPPOET. 

The report on " Ministerial Support," was then called for, 
and it was read by Rev. Prof. George Shepard, of Maine, chair- 
man of the committee, as follows : — 

The committee appointed to present to the Council the topic of Minis- 
terial Support hereby report: — 

"We find the most concise and comprehensive axiom on this subject, — 
uttered by the Lord in connection with the sending forth of the seventy 
disciples, — " The laborer is worthy of his hire." The laborer here pro- 
nounced upon is the servant of Christ, the minister and messenger of his 
gospel, the bearer of spiritual blessings to the lost race of man. 

We have here a class of men set apart to a service deemed of vital 
importance to the welfare of the world, — a class extending down the 
centuries, — their permanence affirming their indispensableness. They 
are appointed and commissioned of God, — consecrated to a single and 
peculiar service. That they may the most largely compass the benefits 
of this, they are set apart from the ordinary and gainful pursuits of life ; 
all their capabilities held to and absorbed in a ministry of beneficence, not 
to get good, but confer good. 

We find the order and the principle in the opening of the Mosaic dis- 
pensation. First, The separation and consecration of the sons of Levi: 
" Behold, I have taken your brethren, the Levites, from among the chil- 
dren of Israel; to you they are given as a gift from the Lord." Sec- 
ondly, The ohligation on the part of the people to them. " Wherefore 
forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth." Under 
the old and the new dispensation, the principle of service and support 
is the same, a principle of support meant to conduce to the highest meas- 
ure of service, and service the most effective in quafity. 

The principle of support to those who preach the gospel, the ohligation to 
support those who consent to be separated to this service, we find put by 
the apostle Paul in a peculiarly terse and satisfactory way, — as is the man- 
ner oi that apostle to put things, — in a sort of closing-up fashion, as 
though the brief word he used, held within itself the finality of all argu- 
ment. He says, linking his conclusion with the arrangement divinely made 
ages before, " Even so hath the Lord ordained, that they which preach the 
gospel should live of the gospel." So far as authority can settle this prin- 
ciple, the arranging and commanding of the Supreme Lord settle the prin- 
ciple that preachers derive their living from the people whom they serve. 

There are good reasons, statements which come to the people with the 
authority of reason, why what the Saviour so expficitly enjoins should 
be done, — namely, the laborer in this field have his hire; that the 
preacher of this gospel be furnished a living in it. 

The first is, he is a laborer; what he does is labor. An apostle pro- 
nounces it a good work. Every undertaker of it, who with a soul of zeal 
aims at any tolerable fidelity in it, is satisfied of one thing, that it is 
work; work various, multiform, ever-crowding, never finished; reaching 



MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 155 

to the inmost sensibilities of life ; drawing off its most ethereal quality, 
its finest capital. Xo man could bear the strain and intensity of this toil, 
only as he felt and was allowed to say, it is a good work. 

2. It is a work which, to get ready to do, fit, qualified to do, takes 
years of laborious preparation, and expenditure in the preliminary, 
exceeded in no other human function, equaled by a very few. It is a 
work which can not be worthily done, unless done by a class prepared 
by the discipline of study and grace; to them committed; themselves 
consecrated to it, and made responsible for it; their life's work, and all 
the work of fife they are allowed to do. 

3. It is a work most vital in its bearing upon all human interests. So- 
ciety could hardly subsist without it. It has an essentially modifying 
influence upon all branches of industry; makes even the fields more jDro- 
lific, the houses more tasteful and comfortable. It elevates and makes 
purer the whole course of morals ; holds in check the wasteful propensi- 
ties; inclines toward harmony the conflicting passions; advances the 
character in all worthy attributes ; greatly quickens and strengthens the 
intellect; lifts the heart to the divine and heavenly; nullifies or turns 
into positive benefit the most formidable powers of evil. 

It is admitted, because demonstrated, that the work of the minister 
adds largely to a people's worldly prosperity, to their literal enrichment; 
brings a gain in character, in happiness, in possession, in items of ben- 
efit innumerable, beyond the count of gold. 

This is admitted, confessed to, by Christian people, that the support of 
these workers is a just due, enjoined by the Lord, earned by hard, ex- 
hausting, and invaluable service; yet their hire is kept back in part; as 
a general thing they are not at all adequately paid ; the average of pay 
is decidedly below a proper standard of compensation. This I may 
safely assume ; no Christian mind will question it. There is no time to 
array facts in confirmation of this. They abound — are every where ; 
they are humiliating — are positively disgraceful to our Christianity. 

In some instances, this inadequate support arises from the inahility of the 
people to do more. These discharge themselves from blame by doing what 
they can, — all that they can. In other instances, and these probably the 
more common, the inadequate compensation for service grows out of a 
prevalent low estimate of the value of the service. It is service in the de- 
partment of rehgion, which, as many conceive, if not wholly without cost, 
is proximately so. And men of this way of judging justify themselves in 
crowding all estimates in the direction of a cipher. The very economical 
argument is, — the Master opened by giving himself. And then his sal- 
vation is put without price. And the men sent to dispense it are supposed 
to be above all self-seeking; bound to be mortified in all their desires; the 
whole living they aspire to is simply a partial deliverante from starva- 
tion. There is here furnished to the people a promising field for cheap- 
ening; and the minister's work is sometimes cheapened with a vengeance. 
If it were some other branch of service, — stood in some likely or prohfic 
connection with increase, — had to do with hoarding money, rather than 
garnering souls, — the standard of compensation and expenditure would 



156 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 

be set higher at once ; a larger priee proffered and paid, because greater 
value is assigned to the service. 

All the causes of depressed pay we can not run over or even hint. 
This low appreciation of the things of God may be clearly set down as 
prominent among them. That there is ever downright fraud — the hire 
of these laborers kept back of fraud — we like not to think; we recoil from 
making so grave a charge ; yet the eye that sees through all may see even 
this. We choose the rather to assume that the people do not consider ; 
and that they will do better when they perceive the obligation in its true 
light, — will be disposed to do what is equable and just, when they see 
what that is. 

And what is it? What is the just measure of a minister's compensa- 
tion or support? 

This is a quantity we can state in no fixed formula of figures. It is a 
variable quantity, — changes with times, circumstances, places. It is not 
pay for his work as men in other callings are paid. It is not, of course, the 
highest pay his measure of talent is capable of commanding, — not the 
most liberal pay he may win, by consenting to be the tool of competing 
churches, and swayed by their bids on his coveted gifts. He degrades 
the ofiice, shows himself not worthy of the office, if he consents to forsake 
a place where God has put him, where he is largely useful, where gen- 
erous hearts surround him, are ready to give him, actually do give him, 
all he need§, and attempts the perilous grade that promises to take him 
higher in the scale of emolument or notability. 

We can fix the just measure of a minister's support only by the state- 
ment of a principle. It is that measure of support which conduces to 
the highest effectiveness in his work. That is an average quantity, — a 
medium quantity. The flush of gain, the excitement of rolling up prop- 
erty, can only be damaging to him. The harassments of poverty will 
necessarily cramp and deaden the fife of all noble endeavor. What 
meets the case is an easy competence ; that he have what he needs to 
make him comfortable, — to set him free from corroding anxiety, — to give 
him. a tone of assurance favorable to vigorous work; a sense of manly 
independence ; a deliverance from a feeling of meanness, — from a sub- 
jected and cringing spirit, as one afraid to affirm and press obligation. 
We strike a conception of the quantity as that which puts him in the 
best condition for his work. On the one hand, it is that which does not, 
by largeness of emolument, or any item of worldly attraction, draw, by 
unworthy motives, aspirants into this field; and does not, on the other 
hand, by rigor of place, or unjust severities of treatment, repel from the 
office those who ought to enter it, and in this way deplete the ranks of 
competent Christian laborers. 

This, then, the measure of support in the place or office; that it is a po- 
sition in which those who enter it are assisted, enabled, by the compensa- 
tion rendered, to live on a scale which shall be a full average, if not a 
little above the average, of the community they serve; a position, there- 
fore, in which they can assuredly live, and be largely useflil. 

The reasons, in addition to those already given, for furnishing this 



MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 157 

measure of support, press on interest, conscience, sensihility. They so 
throng, that we can do little more than make a naked statement of them. 
The minister, then, should be thus equably supported: — 

1. That he may he enabled to give himself wholly to his work. This 
work is sufficient to tax all his powers, and absorb all his time. Few 
men, for any reason, even for the necessities of a living, can go outside 
of it without detriment. Paul did; but he is the grand exception and 
anomaly of the ages. The man who truly desires this work, so desires 
it, that he will lay down all other work for this alone, — will choose to 
make this his sole work; and the savor of his examjDle, and the measure 
of his usefulness, will turn almost entirely upon the singleness of his 
consecration to it. 

2. That he may keej) himself in the best condition for his work; which 
means that he be not tempted to over-work by a necessity laid upon him 
to do other things ; which also means that he be able to command the 
reasonable means of recuperation, by diversion, travel, rest. 

3. That he may furnish himself loith the indispensable helps to his 
work; that it be put in his power to purchase, in books and otherwise, 
the materials of thought, argument, exposition; whatever will feed and 
replenish his own mind, bring to it strength and opulence, and make it 
a storehouse of varied and exhaustless supply to the minds of the peo- 
ple. If the people but understood how solid and good books, put 
into the hands of their ministers, find their terminus in themselves, they 
would load his arms and shelves with them, or give him the means to 
do it. 

4. That he may be respectable and appear respectable. In house, in 
furniture, in the dress and culture of his children, he must come up to a 
certain standard, or he drops in the public estimation and influence. If 
his bearing is mean, his words will be despised, 

5. That he may be honest. To a just measure, he must be paid, that 
he may pay, — may stand in that pecuniary supremacy Paul commends 
in the words, " Owe no man anything." The minister should have the 
power of standing on this high vantage-ground, that there may be noth- 
ing between him and the hearts and the consciences of his people; that 
he may enforce, by word and deed, all the claims of integrity, and lead 
the people to " love one another." 

6. That he may be liberal; take the lead; be an example in Christian 
giving. One of his hardest functions, everywhere, will be to train his 
flock worthily to the grace of giving. 'No argument or eloquence of 
speech alone will do it, so terribly and deeply knotted and intrenched, 
even in Christian hearts often, is the lust of getting and laying up. He 
must lead the way, like that old hero of a weaponless fight, Gideon; he 
must be in a condition to say to the people, when they come together to 
deal blows against this master lust, so loath to die, — with Gideon, let him 
say, "Look on me and do likewise." ISTo one thing is so important to a 
minister's efficacy in this respect, as that he be in a condition that will 
enable him thus to be an example of giving to the people. 

7. That he may have some prudent forecast and providing for the loved 



158 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 

ones he will "be called to leave. Some may think faith will dispense 
with this; yet humanity demands this, that he leave something for the 
helpless behind. 

8. That the favor of the Master may he conciliated toward his churches. 
Just and liberal in their treatment of the servants he sends to them, the 
like the style and measure of his dispensation to them. If it is a course 
of withholding on the part of any of the churches ; a niggardly policy, 
depressing and grinding down the promulgers of this free and most gen- 
erous gospel, making them compulsory patterns of self-denial, and fleshly 
mortification; then, probably, receive they in the like, from the Divine 
Source. It proves a ministry of leanness to them, on the principle, that 
their reaping is according to their sowing. We have here, doubtless, the 
explanation of numberless parched and arid fields. It is a grand law of 
God's treatment, — with the merciful he will show himself merciful; 
with the froward he will show himself frbward. 

9. There is another reason for yielding an equable support, according 
as we have defined it; namely, if it he not done, ministers will not he to be 
supported. It is possible that there be a treatment of them that shall 
not only diminish, but threaten to run the class out. 

Christian men, appointed to do God's service, will stand forth ready to 
bear, cheerfully, any severity of lot God may appoint for them. But the 
stint, and the mean withholding of men, — they will not so degrade 
themselves as to put up with that; but with a self-respecting indepen-- 
dence, will they be tempted to say to these men, too niggardly to pay 
in support of God's free gospel of saving, in the words of Paul, " Thy 
money perish with thee." Any hardship God ordains in the fulfillment 
of his commission, let the servant of this gospel rejoice and glory to bear. 
Let no servant shun the service because of the hardship. Be this ever 
and supremely the motive which draws into this field the highest and 
noblest talent, — the privilege to serve Christ in the ministry of his gos- 
pel, though in the want of all things. 

When the naked work or oflice ceases to have the power to draw the 
men, then it is a function, an office, which can no longer find men; the 
absence of them being proof that the race of fit men no longer exists. 

The above constitute what one rightly calls the economic reason why 
the church should worthily support its ministry. 

There is another and higher, we have previously touched, which is the 
moral reason, — that which shows it to be eternally right that the 
preacher of the gospel be, compensated for his service. It is the reason 
the Lord gives, "The laborer is worthy of his hire;" a statement of prin- 
ciple which makes it infinitely just, that he be paid for the value of ser- 
vices rendered, — services which are literally invaluable, lying beyond 
the power of money to measure. 

We come to another department of the topic, namely, 

The mode of payment. This is of importance, as well as the measure. 
It is a satisfaction to the minister, after he has wrought and deserved 
and earned, to receive what he needs in equity, as a matter of just due. 
He knows, and the peojoliB also, that it is matter of just debt. He feels a 



MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. ^ 159 

more manly sentiment when it comes regularly, punctually, cheerfully, 
as what is due him. If it is looked upon, in any sense, as charity ; if his 
support is made, by contract, inadequate, through avarice, when the peo- 
ple are abundantly able to make it a sufficiency, and then they supple- 
ment, piece out the stipend, for this reason deficient, by donations, in 
visits and otherwise; though in the end he may receive as much, yet the 
.mode is somewhat degrading to him, — degrading, that he has to take as 
a gift what is so ascendantly his, due. If the people choose to make gifts 
to their ministers, over and above a just compensation for service, it is 
all amiable, — honorable to both parties. If they put to him, as a present, 
what they owe to him as a deM, it is not honorable to either of the par- 
ties. These sunny-side chapters, found weekly in our rehgious papers, 
if estahlished as the people's mode, in part, of paying their minister, then 
brood they over the future of oiu: Zion in most ominous shape. They 
are admissible only as setting the pastor by an emergency, which comes 
by a temporary rise of prices. 

We lay down this as indispensable in the arrangement of the minister's 
support, namely, that there he a legally constituted corporate body respon- 
sible for his support. Then, it individuals fail, this body stands as good, 
held according to the contract. We deprecate the practice of brmging 
a minister, at the beginning, and annually ever after, to the test of a 
subscription paper, the figures of which, in the putting down, are the 
votes for his call or his continuance. The failure to cancel any of these 
subscriptions, in some cases, is set to the minister's account, — made de- 
tractions from his stipulated pay. 

We like the theory, and are clear in commending it where circum- 
stances favor, — the theory of no individual property in the house of God. 
All contributions to build it are gifts to the church for this purpose ; the 
house held by the church for God and his worship ; and the minister's 
support provided for by the rentals of the place. This comes as near to 
a free church as is feasible or desirable. It is desirable and important, 
as a means of spiritual benefit from the service, that all responsible mem- 
bers of the body be instructed, encouraged, and expected to bear some 
part, help in some form of payment the body to meet the expenses 
of sustaining the worship and ordinances of God. 

It is a principle most will admit, that the primal obligation to support 
the minister lies with the church he serves, in such form as they may 
choose. Each church, as a general thing, held solely responsible for its 
own minister. While this is valid and true, it is also true, that the able 
churches are bound to help support the weak, — the ministers of the weak 
churches. Here hes the argument and appeal for home missions. 

Another point, which may not be passed in this discussion, is, the min- 
ister's function and responsibility in the matter of his own support. It 
being a contract between him and the people, of course there is a side for 
him to fulfill. 

The main consideration here is, that he do his work to the extent of his 
abiUty, — all he has consecrated to the service of God, in promoting the 
highest interests of his people. His right to a support, as a minister, 
depends upon the fact that he is a minister only. 



160 MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 

As another item of duty resting upon him, let him keep young and fresh, 
that he may do the work a long time ; keep young, by continuing to grow, 
intellectually as well as spiritually, even up to length of years. Eor 
every man has a claim to be held as young so long as he keeps growing. 
Presh and full of fire, let him make the people forget that he is an old man, 
even when he is beginning to be one. Let the people also bear with the of- 
fense which their minister can not wholly avoid taking on, namely, some 
of the outer signs of age. There is a wrong done to some of the best and 
most useful men of the pulpit, by a judgment, or demand, which cuts 
short, many years, their term of service, and takes away their breath, 
— men in the acme of their strength and their usefulness, but for the in- 
evitable signs just alluded to. Moses, at eighty, said, " I can not speak, 
for I am a child." The people now sometimes reverse his plea against 
speaking, and hurl it into the face of the veteran : you can not speak — 
not fit to speah, because you are growing old. " Milk for babes," says 
Paul, in substance. The people say now, Babes to dispense the milk. 
There is coming to be almost an insane demand for young ministers, — - 
nearer to boys the better. Still, there is another, and a conflicting taste 
abroad, which demands that they pause a while at Jericho. For we 
have come to a time when a man's hair is an essential part of him. 

Another item in the minister's responsibihty in his own support is, 
that he be a man, and his wife a woman, of stable and frugal ideas as to 
what constitutes a living. While they should not be subjected to live 
meanly, they should be willing to live moderately, — in that medium 
condition which, doubtless, is the most conducive to comfort, respectabil- 
ity, and usefulness. It is the case with some ministers, that they are nat 
supported because they are not supportable; good ministers, in most re- 
gards, only they have not the faculty to come down to a minister's stipend 
of living. They are given to fancies and fashions which overleap all the 
regular estimates of the people. It is imjDortant that the minister regu- 
late and adjust his expenditures to a tolerably fixed scale, in order that 
the people may know, right along, the probable limit of their responsi- 
bility in this regard. 

There is still another department of the minister's function in his own 
support. It is incumbent on him to educate his pieople to integrity and 
benevolence, — make them honest and benevolent. The first done, they 
will pay as they agree. The second done, they will agree to furnish him 
a reasonable amount. 

The minister, to do this part of his work thoroughly, must be on his 
guard against the prevalent fallacy, that converting men — making them 
Christians — of course makes them honest and benevolent. Frequent and 
painful facts show that it does not of course. Christians we must believe 
we have, and, notwithstanding the grace of God, not strictly, purely, 
honest; certainly not free to give and do for the cause of God and the 
saving of men. 

Let the minister put in, clearly and specifically^ truth, precept, instruc- 
tion, for the grace of God to vivify. And let him persist to do this, and 
be still more faithful and specific, till the conscience is brought up to a 



COMMITTEES APPOINTED. 161 

point of enlightenment, and measure of fidelity, wliere, so far as his flock 
is concerned, not only himself, but all other men, will be paid what is due 
to them, if to pay is possible. 

jDocimie, duty also, line upon line, on the other cardinal virtue, benev- 
olence, — the disposition to disburse freely for all good objects. To the 
doctrine, the instruction, precept, which here, too, must lead, let practice 
be made to follow closely and perpetually. IS'othing like giving, to make 
people love giving. 

There is a hurtful fallacy here to be guarded against, — that giving 
depletes the resources, and so reduces the ability of a Christian man or 
body. The minister, in a circle of small means, in a parish of limited 
strength, is liable to reason directly wrong, namely, thus : If I am to be 
supported, I must be on the watch, and use my influence to keep the 
money mainly at home. He does so, and he takes the high road to starv- 
ation. And he deserves to. 

Let him change his policy, and throw wide open his heart, — take into 
it the whole world, and make it his glad rule to help, personally and 
through his people, all good objects, — thus lead his people, in acts of 
giving, till they attain to a hearty love of giving; that minister's sup- 
port has a basis equal to the strength of two Gibraltars, — one the integ- 
rity of his people, the other the benevolence of the people. 



George Shepard, 
Charles G. Hammond, 
"VV. A. Buckingham, 
Samuel Holmes, 
Douglas Putnam. 



Committee. 



The report was accepted and referred under the rule to the 
appropriate committee. 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Langworthy, of Massachusetts, for the 
committee on Nominations, the following members were added 
to the committee on the Declaration of Faith : — 

Prof. Samuel Harris, of Bangor; Prof. Edwards A. Park, of Ando- 
ver; Prof. Edward A. Lawrence, of East Windsor; Prof. JSToah Porter, 
Jr., of l^ew Haven; Prof. James H. Fairchild, of Oberlin; Prof. Joseph 
Haven, of Chicago. 

The hour of 11, A. M., having arrived, prayer was offered by 
Rev. Dr. Hopkins, of Massachusetts, and by Rev. Dr. Massie, 
of England, and appropriate hymns were sung. 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Langworthy, for the committee on 
Nominations, the following committees were appointed : — 

ON EVANGELIZATION IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 

Kev. Samuel W. S. Dutton, d. d., of Connecticut; Eev. Joseph P. Thomp- 
son, D. D., of New York; Hon. Samuel Williston, of Massachusetts; 
11 



162 MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

Eey. Benjamin P. Stone, D. D., of ISTew Hampshire ; Eev. Lucius H. 
Parker, of Illinois ; Eev. Dexter Clary, of Wisconsin ; Judge Francis 
D. Parish, of Ohio ; Eev. Jesse Guernsey, of Iowa ; Eev. William 
Crawford, of Colorado ; Jacob Bacon, of California ; Eev. George H. 
Atkinson, of Oregon. 

ON THE RELATION OF FOREIGN MISSIONS TO THE CONGREGA- 
TIONAL CHURCHES. 

Eev. W. Ives Budington, D. D., of Kew York ; Eev. Zachary Eddy, 
D. D., of Massachusetts ; Eev. Charles C. Parker, of Yermont ; Eev. 
William Carter, of Illinois ; Hon. Benjamin Douglas, of Connecticut. 

ON THE ROLL. 

Eev. Edward Beecher, D. r>., of Illinois ; Dea. Elnathan F. Duren, of 
Maine ; Eev. John K. Young, d. d., of iSTew Hampshire ; Eev. Ezra H. 
Byington, of Yermont ; Eev. J. W. Harding of Massachusetts ; Eev. 
William Barrows, of Massachusetts ; Eev. Eobert C. Learned, of Con- 
necticut ; Eowland Hazard, Esq., of Ehode Island ; Eev. L. Smith 
Hobart, of Kew York ; Eev. Edward Hawes, of Pennsylvania; Eev. 
Edwin Johnson, of Maryland ; Eev. Lysander Kelsey, of Ohio ; Eev. 
Adam S. Kedzie, of Michigan ; Eev. S. Hopkins Emery, of Illinois ; 
Eev. Joseph W. Healey of Wisconsin ; Eev. Julius A. Eeed, of Iowa ; 
Eev. Eichard Hall, of Minnesota ; Eev. Julian M. Sturtevant, Jr., of 
Missouri ; Eev. Lewis Bodwell, of Kansas ; Eev. Eeuben Gaylord, of 
Nebraska ; Eev. William Crawford, of Colorado ; Eev. Ejnsley Twin- 
ing, of California ; Eev. John M. Holmes, of New Jersey. 

MINISTEEIAL EDUCATION. 

Rev. Ray Palmer, D. D., of New York, chairman of commit- 
tee, read the following : — 

By the conference of committees from the principal ecclesiastical bod- 
ies representing the Congregational churches in the United States, which . 
met at New York, in the chapel of the Broadway Tabernacle Church, 
on the seventeenth of November, 1864, the undersigned were appointed 
a committee to call the attention of the National Council to be assem- 
bled at Boston on the fourteenth of June, 1865, to the subject of the 
education of young men for the Christian ministry, and to make such 
suggestions as might facilitate the thorough consideration and discussion 
of the topic. The duty so imposed has seemed to them a difficult one. 
The magnitude of the matter in itself ; its relation to various questions 
pertaining to the state and duty of the churches, — to the condition and 
prospects of our colleges, and especially of our theological institutions, — 
to the work of home evangelization and that of foreign missions, and 
the new aspects under which it is just now providentially presented; 
render it no easy thing to exhibit it so concisely that it can be compre- 
hended at a single view, and yet so fully that it shall make, in its details, 




MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 163 

anything like the desired impression. The committee, accordingly, have 
not been able to make their statement so brief as they desired ; but they 
have not been willing, for the sake of brevity, to omit any thing that 
seemed necessary to be said in order to a just view of the subject. If 
they have succeeded in bringing it fairly before the Council for discus- 
sion, they suppose that this is all that was expected of them. They, 
therefore, respectfully submit the following paper. 

SECTION I. 

FACTS BEAEIXG ON THE SUBJECT OF THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG MEN FOR THE 

MINISTRY. 

1. From the day when the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Kock, it has 
been the settled conviction of our Congregational churches, that for the 
high and responsible work of the Christian teacher a thorough intellectual 
discipline and culture, a truly liberal education, is, as the rule, impera- 
tively demanded. 'No other view could be expected to prevail in churches 
whose earliest pastors were many of them men of eminent learning and 
wore the honors of the highest scholarship in the English universities. 
To provide the means of raising up for themselves an educated ministry, 
was, it is well known, one of the first things connected with their settle- 
ment here on which they bestowed anxious care and thought. Our 
standard of ministerial education has, therefore, always been relatively 
high; for the last fifty years it has been rising steadily; and it is no 
longer a question with us whether it should be carried to the highest 
practicable point. 

2. The number of young men in a course of preparation for the min- 
istry, as compared with the whole number of persons pursuing liberal 
studies, has for the last twelve or fifteen years been on the whole mate- 
rially diminishing. The inducements offered to Christian young men to 
enter into secular pursuits, the growing respectability of teaching as a 
profession, the increasing profitableness of hterature, the attractions of 
the political arena^ the new enterprises opened on every hand and prom- 
ising rapid gains, — all the stimulants, in short, which are fitted to stir an 
honorable ambition in gifted minds, have exerted an efiective influence 
in diverting from the sacred office those who might naturally have been 
expected to desire to enter it. A mistaken impression has also prevailed 
that the ranks of the ministry were already over-full, and by this error 
many have doubtless been turned aside. The demands of the war just 
closing have called great numbers of young men not only to leave their 
studies, but to lay down their lives, for the sacred cause of national unity 
and freedom. By these and other causes, it has come to pass that the 
number of students in our colleges and seminaries, who are looking for- 
ward to the service of Christ in the pulpit, is painfully small, just when 
the need of men in this holy work is becoming every day more urgent. 

3. While in general scholarship and theological training the Congrega- 
tional clergy, as a body, are probably unsurpassed by any equally nu- 
merous clerical body in the world, it is quite plain that they are but 



164 MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

partially meeting the spiritual necessities of our advancing population. 
Even in Kew England, where our churches originally had the ground, 
and where it would seem that they ought to have kept pace with the 
social growth, there are now great numbers who are not reached in any 
effectual manner by the stated means of grace. ISTot only in the large 
cities and manufacturing towns into which many of foreign birth have 
gradually introduced themselves, but also in the country towns and vil- 
lages, where the people are still chiefly of native Puritan descent, it is un- 
deniably true that a very considerable, and, it is to be feared, an increas- 
ing portion of the whole population are not reached by the ministry so as 
to feel the power of the gospel of Christ. Many such are relapsing into 
rehgious ignorance and spiritual death in the very sight of Christian 
sanctuaries. 

4. There are to be found, in Kew England itself, not a few towns and 
"villages in which Congregational churches were once planted and had 
full possession of the field, but in which such churches have become 
nearly or quite extinct, and the ground has been occux)ied by others, 
sometimes by unevangelical churches or congregations, and sometimes 
by churches whose ministry has been far inferior in educational culture 
to our own. While, in the largeness of our hberality, we have supplied 
to one branch of the Presbyterian chmxh no inconsiderable portion of 
its clergy, and even a greater portion probably of its laymen ; while we 
have sent forth multitudes of Christian missionaries, and of pioneers, who, 
in the newer parts of the country, have planted churches, established 
colleges, and laid the foundations of a Christian civilization, and have 
given our hearty support to all forms of Christian effort; we have yet, 
with all our advantages, failed to hold and to strengthen, in the interest 
of our Lord, positions that once were ours. We have lost them for want 
of care to sustain the weak, and of fidelity and zeal in relation to the 
unimposing details of Christian duty. 

6. In our statistical tables, a great number of feeble churches are 
reported, which for the larger part of the time are without pastors, or 
any regular supplies, and so are becoming more and more feeble. Less 
than one third of our churches have pastors settled over them. Some- 
thing more than another third have only stated supjDlies ; lea^^ng some- 
thing a little less than a third of the whole with no steady supply at all. 
Most of these are unable to procure any, unless it be for brief and uncer- 
tain periods, and often, for years together, suffer a dearth of the word 
of life. They are in the sad condition of sheep without a shepherd. 

6. While such a state of things exists even in New England, the case 
is still worse, much worse beyond these limits. The newer States, in- 
cluding the vast regions of the West, now extending to the Pacific and 
opening to receive the flood-tide of population, present almost innumer- 
able points at which churches have been planted and are yet in a feeble 
state, or must be planted to struggle up from feebleness amidst the em- 
barrassments and hardships of a forming social condition. To these 
illimitable fields are now added the Border and Southern States, in 
which, as the result of our great contest, society is to a great extent to 



MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 165 

be reorganized. Over these extensive regions are to be scattered, for a 
long time to come, a great number of churches which will not present 
inviting parishes, nor afford a liberal ministerial support. Yet it is of the 
utmost imiDortance to the cause of evangelical religion, and to the future 
well-being of our country, that these positions should be taken and held 
by faithful Christian ministers, and that the church should grow up side 
by side with other institutions from the first. 

7. From various parts of the foreign missionary field there are soon 
to be heard the most earnest calls for eflScient re-enforcements. For the 
last four years no enlargement of operations has been attempted. To 
avoid disastrous curtailment, to weather the financial storm without a 
wreck, has been the grand anxiety. But four years, in which little more 
has been done than just to hold our ground, will render imperative a vig- 
orous advance so soon as circumstances will permit. The day is now at 
hand. The missionary brethren, who have uncomplainingly borne ex- 
cessive burdens, and have patiently endured the troubles arising from 
straitened means, must speedily see others coming to their aid. Where 
the seed has been sown through tedious years, the harvest that at 
last has ripened must be reaped; and at many a new pos't must the 
banner of our Lord be planted. The educational institutions must be 
manned, the work of translation and of creating Christian literatures 
must go forward, and the presses must be kept effectively at work. For 
men to go forth and enter into all these labors, in every quarter of 
the world, we shall very soon hear strong appeals. They come indeed 
already. 

Such are a few of the material facts that meet us at the threshold in 
the consideration of the subject now before us. 

BEAEING OF THESE FACTS AS REGARDS THE MINISTRY. 

It is of the utmost importance that these acknowledged facts should 
be set distinctly before both ministers and churches, and should be care- 
fully and seriously considered. We, as a denomination, have sought to 
disencumber Christianity of the machinery of a sensuous ecclesiasticism. 
We have had faith in its spiritual power, and so have returned to the 
simple forms and usages of the primitive chm^ch. We have believed 
that the gospel, in the naked simplicity in which Christ and his apostles 
originally proclaimed it, is the divinely appointed means for the renew- 
ing of individual man, and for the elevating and purifying of the social 
and rehgious condition of the world. We have understood that Christ 
has given his followers solemn charge to apply it faithfully for the accom- 
plishment of these great ends, and that he has pledged himself, so far as 
this is done, to make it effectual by* his co-operative providence and 
grace. In the full enjoyment, as a people, of civil and religious freedom, 
we have nothing external to embarrass us in so applying it. l!^ever, on 
the face of the earth, has there been offered a fairer opportunity than 
here exists for the direct and thorough preaching of the gospel to the 
masses of the people, and the infusing of its peculiar influences into all 
the relations and institutions of social life. It would seem, therefore, 



166 MINISTEEIAL EDUCATION. 

that here there should be furnished to the whole world an instructive 
and stimulating example of what a pm^e, free gospel, preached by a 
learned and godly ministry, can do to renovate and exalt a people, and to 
adoi-n society with the charm of general intelligence, refinement, and 
virtue. If evangehcal Christianity fail here to fulfill its mission, where 
is it likely to succeed? What, then, is to be said in view of the facts to 
which we have referred? What, in particular, are the wants, as regards 
the Christian ministry, which they forcibly suggest? 

SECTION II. 

PEESENT WANTS AS REGARDS THE MINISTRY. 

1. First of all, there is wanted for the general needs of our Congre- 
gational churches a ministry in the ranks of which shall be found the 
broadest and most thorough scholarship:), — a scholarship no where to be 
surpassed. It is indeed not necessary that every individual minister shall 
attain, or attempt to attain, the highest eminence of learning. But 
surely it would ill become us, who, from our earliest denominational 
history, have set so high a value on clerical education, and whose form 
of church organization and government supposes intelligence and free 
thought, to lack in our pastors and educators the best learning, the most 
finished culture, which the present age in any country can produce. At 
a time when the most momentous questions in theology, in philosophy 
and morals, in philology and criticism, in science and in social and civil 
economy, are engaging constantly the popular as well as the educated 
mind, we must have men to fill the more important positions in our insti- 
tutions and our churches, who can bring to the discussion of these ques- 
tions not only the highest power of thought, but the most ample wealth 
of knowledge. We have such men. We have always had them. Not 
only some of the ablest thinkers, but some of the most accurate philolo- 
gists and most comprehensive scholars, hving, may probably be found 
among our clergy. The higher periodical literature among us, and 
other publications connected with sacred learning, the result of the 
labors of such men, compare well with the best of other countries. But 
it must be admitted that such men are by far too few. Many more such 
are called for by the exigencies of the time. We want them to repel 
the assaults, so confidently made on critical, scientific, and speculative 
grounds, on the very foundations of the Christian faith. We want them 
for many and rapidly multiiDlying positions, which none but the best 
scholarship can creditably fill. We want them at the head of all our 
collegiate and theological institutions. We want them in our pulpits, 
and on our platforms, to teach* pretentious error to be modest. We 
want them in the newer portions of our country, where the foundations 
of learning for many generations must be laid, and the forming thought 
of society be shaped. We want them abroad, where translations of the 
Scriptures must be made, and many difficult tasks be performed with 
the nicest scholarly care. Without such men in our ministry, we can 
neither maintain our ancient prestige, nor meet the necessities of the 
educated and thoughtful mind with which we have to deal. 



MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 167 

2. A much larger number of men are at the present moment wanted 
in the ministry; and this want is sure to become every day more press- 
ing. The carefully arranged statistical tables in the " Congregational 
Quarterly " for January, 1865, abundantly justify this statement. The 
total of Congregational churches is there given at twenty-eight hundred 
and sixty-five; the whole number of nominal ministers, at twenty-eight 
hundred and sixty-two. Of these ministers, seven hundred and fifty-six 
are known not to he in the pastoral work. Besides these, there are reported 
one hundred and forty whose status is not ascertained. Probably the 
greater part of these are not actually engaged in the work of the minis- 
try. Adding say one hundred of these to those known not to be so 
engaged, we have eight hundred and fifty-six, who really have no rela- 
tion whatever to the supply of the churches, to be deducted from the 
total of twenty-eight hundred and sixty -three given in the tables ; leav- 
ing but two thousand and six persons who are in the pastoral work for 
the supply of the twenty-eight hundred and sixty-five chm*ches. If, 
therefore, every minister, better or worse, who is at this time engaged in 
preaching, were to-day placed over a church, there would remain eight 
hundred and fifty-nine churches for whom no minister could he suxjplied. 
The fact that many of these churches are feeble, so far from weakening 
the force of this statement, only gives it greater force, by showing that 
their need of pastors is most urgent. The duty of providing these eight 
or nine hundred churches with pastors, and aiding them, if need be, to 
sustain them, is clearly pressing now upon us. To this we must also 
add, that for the exploring of the vast regions in which churches ought 
to be formed at once, or must speedily be formed, and also for the vari- 
ous departments of the foreign missionary service, many, very many 
more ministers are urgently demanded. 

3. But, further, the want which is becoming every day more pressing, 
extends beyond mere numbers. We want men, who, hy their natural 
endowments and their special training^ are adapted to the work that now 
is not accomplished. 

We are not now called upon, it is conceived, as churches, to make any 
special efibrts and sacrifices to raise up pastors for the well-paying and 
prosperous parishes. These will, of course, need a steady succession of 
thoroughly educated, able, and earnest ministers. But the supply of the 
pulpits of such parishes may safely be left to take care of itself. With 
due care to supply the proper facilities for education, and in view of the 
number of Christian young men who are coming forward, it is quite cer- 
tain that those positions in the ministry, which are in themselves pleas- 
ant and desirable, will be desired and sought. It may occasionally hap- 
pen that a particular church, though every way attractive, will have 
some temporary diflSculty in finding the man it wants ; but this may arise 
from unreasonable expectations, or from the number of candidates pro- 
posed, or some such incidental embarrassment. In general, however, it 
may safely be calculated on, that, as regards the more eligible places, the 
supply will keep pace with the demand. In saying this, we are casting 
no reproach on either the churches or the ministry. The prosperous 



168 MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

churches are not to be blamed fftr desiring the best pastors they can 
obtain. Ministers, when called by the churches to responsible charges, 
where, though the labors are great, the circumstances are congenial, are 
not to be blamed for undertaking those charges. The simple fact to be 
noticed is, that the law which holds in all other departments of social 
life is likely to hold here, — namely, that what is in itself worth seeking, 
somebody will certainly be found to seek. It is not in this direction 
that the attention and the efforts, especially the charitable efforts, of 
the churches should now be turned. It is not about the men required 
for these positions that there is occasion specially to concern ourselves. 

We are specially called on to bring forward into the ministry, as soon 
as possible, from eight hundred to one thousand young ministers, who 
are fitted to the particular work of raising up the feeble churches of New 
England, and the new churches in other parts of our wide country, that 
must be feeble for a time. It is plain, that, for this service, men of a 
certain type are needed. It is not disparaging the ministry, as a class, 
to say, that, on all ordinary principles of calculation, it must be expected, 
that, out of a given number who enter the sacred office, there will be a 
certain per cent, who can not be successful. It is so in all other pursuits 
in which men are accustomed to engage, and, without a perpetual mira- 
cle, it will always be so in this. Some will lack in part, and some almost 
wholly, after all the processes of education, the peculiar powers and 
qualities which give influence over men. 

It has, probably, been one of the practical errors of the past, to im- 
agine that this class of ministers might meet the wants of the churches 
that are suffering from chronic weakness, and of those that have been 
newly planted. On the contrary, inasmuch as the work to be done for 
these is peculiarly difficult, the men to do it must be men of special force 
and tact. Only men of physical energy, of gristle, nerve, and pluck, — 
men whom hard work, hard fare, and hard usage of all sorts, will not 
kill, — can be expected to meet the exigencies of such a service. There 
must be, also, an intellectual adaptation not less positive and marked. 
"We live in stirring times. All the pulses of social life beat quick and 
strong. The minds of people of remotest places are reached by all sorts 
of stimulating influences, and thought and feeling are intensified to a 
high degree. Whoever is to exert a molding influence on a people in 
such a state, must be himself alive, flexible, vigorous, sympathetic, hu- 
man, as well as scholarly, intellectual, and pious. He must have quick- 
ness to plan, and enthusiasm to execute ; must know how to find access 
to the hearts even of the prejudiced and hostile; and be sagacious in 
discerning, and prompt in meeting, the exigencies that every day will 
bring. It is young men, who have the capacity for all this, that are de- 
manded. What we here say, in regard to the kind of men demanded for 
the missionary work at home, is not less true in respect to those wanted 
for the missionary work abroad. They must be men whom God, by 
their natural endowments, has fitted to force and grapple with the ardu- 
ous and peculiar difficulties which that work of necessity involves. 

4. But we must go still farther. The men now wanted in the ministry 



MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 169 

must be men who, along with force of natural character, possess also the 
higher force which eminent faith and the deepest Christian earnestness 
supply. With the facts of the case before us, it is plain that ministers 
are demanded who will be willing to enter, and willing to stay in the most 
trying and difficult fields, if so the Master in his providence directs. To 
go into obscure and feeble parishes, or into destitute regions to plant 
new churches, or into the isolation and trials of a home among pagans, 
and to be able and willing patiently to labor there, requires a vigorous 
hold on things unseen, and a deep baptism into the sjDirit of self-sacri- 
fice. To do these things men must be had to whom the pleasures of 
filling a conspicuous position, of preaching to refined and appreciative 
hearers, of being surrounded by agreeable society, and even of having a 
comfortable support, will hardly be taken into the account in accepting 
a field of labor. They must be men who, not in some highly figurative 
sense, but literally, count all things but loss in comparison with the priv- 
ilege of imparting the knowledge of Christ to those whose need of it is 
greatest ; who feel that a woe is on them if they preach not the gos- 
pel, and are determined to preach it, paid or unpaid, with comforts or 
without comforts, and ' have even a holy ambition to work in the dark- 
est and most cheerless places where work is to be done. Is it doubted 
whether it can be the duty of Christian young men to give themselves 
to the preaching of the word at such a cost? Paul and the first preach- 
ers of Christianity did. There have been those in all ages of the Chris- 
tian church who have done it. If Francis Xavier, and Ignatius Loyola, 
and others like them in the Komish church, could rise to such a heroic 
self-devotion as they exhibited, is it too much to hope, that, under the 
clearer light and higher inspirations of spiritual Christianity, men may 
be raised up to emulate, in doing the work of Christ, their zeal, their 
self-denials, their patient endurance of suffering? "Without such men to 
meet the present and prospective need, it is clear that our own country 
can not be brought fully under the power of Christ's religion, still less 
can the world ever be won to God. It will be of little use to increase 
the number of young ministers, or even to bring the most gifted and 
energetic of our sons into the sacred office, if, after all, they have not the 
sublime self-devotion which will make them willing to go any where, and 
to face any discouragements whatever for Christ's sake. Without this 
in the ministry, the work that now lies undone will still lie undone; 
moral wastes will multiply; churches will become extinct; and we as a 
Christian denomination shall appear to have lost the spirit of our godly 
fathers, whose faith and polity have come down to us as a goodly heritage. 
Apostolic faith and zeal, and unflincMng readiness to do or suffer, — 
nothing short of a ministry possessing these high spiritual endowments, 
will meet the present want. 

5. We want likewise, it must be added, men for the ministry who un- 
derstand and heartily approve the system of faith and the ecclesiastical 
principles of the Fathers of New England. It is the just glory of our 
churches that they are of all churches the most truly catholic. This 
arises from the fact, that according to the teaching of Christ and the 



170 MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

apostles, and in opposition to corrupt ecclesiastical traditions, we have 
placed vital Christianity, the renewing and saving power of the gospel 
and the cross, first and highest in onr religions system, and have made 
modes of worship and forms of administration subordinate to life. 
While others have deemed organic unity, an outward consolidation of 
churches, a thing to be desired, our fathers saw in it, and we see in it, 
only a peril to the liberties and to the purity of the Christian brother- 
hood. It has appeared to us, that, of all men on the earth. Christian 
men are most likely to be capable of self-government; and it has seemed 
that the freedom and the responsibilities of self-government must tend 
to develop individual Christian activity, and to make church membership 
a real commitment of each disciple to a practical and working piety. 
We can not but think that our principles, as sanctioned alike by reason 
and the Scriptures, are, for our own sakes and our children's, worth 
maintaining; and also, that, faithfully maintaining them, we shall exert 
a most salutary influence on the large bodies of consohdated churches 
with which we come in friendly contact, in the way of infusing into them 
a more liberal spirit than naturally belongs to their own systems, and by 
in some sort constraining them to respect the rights of individual be- 
lievers and those of the local churches. With these views of our polity, 
it appears to us a sacred trust committed to the children of the Puritans 
for the good of the churches of all names, not less than for their own. 

The men, therefore, whom the wants of our churches, in their present 
rapid multiplication, urge us to bring into the ministry, must be men 
who are the sons of the Pilgrim Pathers, not by birth or in name merely, 
but as grasping the same great eifective principles which made them the 
successful founders and vindicators of civil and religious freedom, and 
breathing the same s^Dirit of devotion to the authority of the Scriptures, 
to earnest and progressive religious thought, and to a piety of deep expe- 
rience. Men who do not understand and love our principles, and can 
not teach our churches to understand and love them ; men who have in 
them no sympathy with the great ideas that cluster historically about old 
Plymouth Eock, — who do not see that it is very much through the force 
of these ideas that there is so much of Christian liberality, and so much 
genuine catholic feehng among the evangelical churches of all names 
throughout our country, — are not the men to do the work that presses 
on our hands. The hearts of great numbers of the people, in all parts of 
the land, are open all the more to receive our scriptural theology, because 
they see it allied to a church organization and government so peculiarly 
in accord with the progressive and practical spirit of the time. In such 
a state of things, we want ministers who have positive convictions as to 
the truth and the value of our principles; ministers, in a word, who are 
Congregationalists in heart, to take the oversight of our churches, and 
to conserve and make yet more perfect the precious religious heritage we 
have received from ancestors whose names are among the most honored 
of mankind. It is such men that the churches, and particularly the new 
churches, are more and more imperatively requiring. 

Such seem to the committee to be the chief wants, as regards the sup- 



MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 171 

ply of a fit ministry, which, in view of the facts referred to in the begin- 
ning, are forcing themselves on the attention of the churches. "We are 
brought, then, to the inquiry, Wliat shall he done, to the end that these 

wants may be efiectually met? 

♦ 

SECTION III. 

WHAT OUGHT NOW TO BE DONE? 

1. In accordance with the well-known views of the fathers of l^ew 
England, and our own convictions as to the value of thorough theological 
education, our theological seminaries should, as soon as possible, he 
placed in a position to offer all facilities which the highest scholarship in 
this department may require. 

At present, none of our theological seminaries are properly endowed. 
The number of professorships is wholly inadequate to the work that 
should be done ; the necessary consequence of which is, that the profes- 
sors are often over-worked, and, after all, the course of study is too nar- 
row. The libraries are comparatively meager, and fall far short of 
meeting the wants both of the professors and the students. The provis- 
ion for the pursuit of those branches of learning, which, while not 
strictly included in the study of theology, are collateral and auxiliary to 
it, amounts to almost nothing. As a large part of the presidents and 
professors of our colleges and seminaries at home, and of the men who 
must master foreign languages and hteratures, and be the translators and 
the educators at our foreign missionary stations, must be trained in our 
theological institutions, the deficiencies which exist are the more to be 
regretted. It has hitherto been a necessity, that those who have wished 
to pursue their studies up to the highest range of scholarship should go 
to Germany, or elsewhere abroad, in order to find the requisite facilities. 
To this there are very grave objections ; and such a com^se would no 
longer be needful were our own institutions such as they ought to be. 
It is far better that those who are to be at the head of our literary insti- 
tutions, who are to shape the thought, and, to a great extent, to deter- 
mine the spirit and character of our churches, should be educated in the 
moral atmosphere of our own country, than where influences prevail 
which are not in harmony with the principles and habits which* we have 
inherited from our noble ' ancestors, and which have been a chief source 
of our national power and glory. We can have, we ought to have, we 
MUST have, theological institutions unsurpassed hy any in the world in 
the largeness and completeness of the advantages they offer, and, at the 
same time, thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the Pilgrims. They 
must lack nothing in the way of men or endowments or books, but must 
be thoroughly equipped. To this important matter, it is conceived, im- 
mediate attention should be given. It has been neglected already quite 
too long. 

2. It is also greatly to be desired, it is, indeed, an imperative necessity, 
that the advantages of our theological seminaries, made thus ample, he 
placed within the reach of all suitable candidates for the Christian ministry. 



172 MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

It will avail but little to urge Christian parents to consecrate their sons, 
or young men of piety and talents to devote themselve&'to Christ's ser- 
vice in the ministry, if the way is not fairly open for them to get the 
needed preparation. The whole subject of charitable aid, in some form, 
to those preparing for the ministry, must be taken up anew in the light 
of experience, and with due regard to the change of circumstances which 
the past few years have wrought. The expenses of living at any of our 
seminaries are at least treble what they were thirty years ago. The 
trifling assistance which could at that time be rendered to deserving 
young men, and which then but barely enabled them to struggle through, 
is wholly insufficient now. While the standard of scholarship has mate- 
rially risen, and the student can less than ever afford to have his studies 
interrupted by efforts for his own support, he is more than ever under 
the necessity of interrupting them if he will avoid the burden of hope- 
less debt. Our own institutions — a strange thing to be true in view of 
our past history — are more deficient in the means of rendering aid than 
those of other denominations with whom we affiliate. Because of this, 
a very considerable number of our young men, within the last few years, 
have naturally been induced, by the hope of more liberal assistance, to 
turn away from the seminaries in which our own doctrines and polity 
are taught; and so, educated in another atmosphere, and forming other 
associations, they have many of them been lost to us. We rejoice in the 
thought that they carry somewhat of the free and catholic spirit of 'New 
England, and of our communion as a whole, into churches where it is 
likely to be useful; but to us as a fellowship of churches, the suffering 
of this process to go on is suicidal. We want our own young men. We 
ought to retain them for the service of our own churches and for the man- 
ning of our own missions. But the only way to retain them is to enable 
our own institutions to give them the help they need. In order to this, 
the wealthy members of our churches must be induced to endow scholar- 
ships, the avails of which may be granted, by examinations held, to 
good attainments and general promise; so that every young man, who is 
quahfled by his talents, diligence, and piety to enter the sacred office, 
may be enabled, without the interruptions and distresses of poverty, to 
pursue a thorough course of study. The same provision, or something 
equivalent to this, should also be made in the colleges, that there as well 
as in the theological schools, young men of the right character may be 
helped forward toward the ministry, instead of sinking under discour- 
agements, or turning to other courses of life. An adequate number of 
scholarships, supplemented by the American Education Society, and per- 
haps, also, by some associations for the supply of clothing, and for the 
care of students who may be sick, would place our institutions in an en- 
tirely different position from that which they now occupy in respect to 
students. They would, in this way, be able to o%er their advantages 
freely to all suitable jDcrsons who might be inclined to profit by them. 
Without such liberal provision we must expect to continue to lose many 
of our best young men. 

3. While such provision is made for the assistance of those who wish 



MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 173 

to prepare themselves thoroughly for the mmistry, pious and promising 
young men, whose circumstances absolutely forbid a full course of study, 
must he brought forward hy a shorter process, and must he allowed to 
resort to the theological seminaries for such limited periods and such par- 
tial studies as may seem exiDcdient in each case. 

In past years, it has been felt that there were strong objections to the 
admission of students to the privileges of the theological schools unless 
they could proceed in the regular order of study to the end. It was 
feared that to allow any to enter the ministry with any thing short of the 
established course of study might tend to lower the general standard of 
ministerial education. But necessity is an efficient teacher. In view of 
the great and urgent wants of our country, as well as of the world, it 
has become quite certain that it will not be possible to furnish a suffi- 
cient number of highly-educated ministers to supply the demand. At the 
same time there are found young men of good ordinary education, good 
sense, or even superior natural abilities, who, owing to something peculiar 
in their circumstances, can not go through the regular course of study, 
and yet, with a more limited preparation, might be exceedingly useful as 
preachers of the gospel. It is believed that the time has now fully come 
when such young men should be permitted to enjoy the advantages of 
our theological institutions for the purpose of taking any such partial 
course^ as the exigencies of each case may render proper, and should, 
with this, be commissioned and sent forth. Men of this class, like the 
first disciples that went every where preaching the word, may do excel- 
lent service as faithful witnesses for Christ. Leaving to their more thor- 
oughly educated brethren the higher offices of the Christian teacher, 
they may, perhaps with some advantage from their less scholastic tastes 
and modes of thinking, come into close sympathy with common people, 
and testify to them the truth as it is in Jesus. If it be true, as some 
have thought, that — not necessarily it may be, but really — the high 
culture of our ministers has tended to place them sometimes too far above 
those whom they should reach and save, a moderate number of earnest, 
judicious men, with less of the spirit of the schools, might do a 
special service in the way of counteracting such a tendency, and 
maintaining a vital contact, a practical community of feeling, between 
the clergy as a body and those who need the gospel. Certainly they may 
help to make up the deficiency in numbers ; and a warm-hearted Chris- 
tian preacher and pastor, though lacking the best scholarship, may be 
owned of God to the saving of many souls that must otherwise have 
been left to perish. With due care, there seems to be no need to fear 
that the admission of some men of special adaptation to the work of 
preaching Christ, with an abbreviated course of preparatory study, will 
either lower the standard of general theological education, or deterio- 
rate the general character of the ministry. We may safely, in this case 
as in others, obey the call of the providence of God. 

4. Yet further: a general and earnest efibrt should at once be made to 
awaken in the churches a new enthusiasm for the work of the Christian 
ministry. 



174 



MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 



To the accomplishment of this, the religious press may effectively con- 
tribute; but the chief reliance must be on faithful presentations of the 
subject by the pastors. Many of us can well remember when, through 
the burning words of Porter, Griffin, Cornelius, and others of hke ardor, 
a fire was kindled in the hearts of Christian parents and Christian young 
men that glowed with a notable intensity. It led godly fathers and 
mothers with prayers and tears to consecrate their children from their 
birth to Christ's service in the gospel, in the hope that he would call 
them to it; and to a conscientious and careful training of them with ref- 
erence to the sacred office. Possibly, at that time, too httle discrimina- 
tion was used in advising young men to enter on a course of preparation 
for the ministry, — an error to be carefully avoided; but this was certainly 
no reason why the whole subject should have been dropped, as we fear it 
has been, to a great extent at least. We must come back again — the pas- 
tors must carry the churches back — to the old conviction, or even a 
deeper conviction, of the value of the Christian ministry, and of the 
honor and blessedness of the work, in spite of all its crosses, when un- 
dertaken and performed in a truly Christian spirit. Young men must 
be persuaded, by cogent arguments and stirring appeals, that to be a 
good minister of Jesus is to occupy a position than which there is none 
more worthy to be aspired to, none higher and nobler in the world. Such 
an ardor as we have seen move the young men of the country to enlist 
in the loyal service for the attainment of the grandest of earthly ends 
must be awakened in the minds of the sons of Christian parents; an 
eagerness to enhst in the army of the Son of God, as leaders of the host 
that is going forth at his command to put down the great rebellion 
against his throne. Every pastor has a personal responsibility to see 
that this is done within his own particular circle. Each must become an 
earnest recruiting agent, using of course all due care to enrol those only 
who have the requisite gifts and capabilities for the service. The presi- 
dents and professors in our colleges have equally a duty to perform. It 
will no longer do to leave this subject to take care of itself The most 
attractive objects of ambition, the most inviting prospects of wealth and 
worldly greatness and distinction, present themselves to our young men 
on every side, and must be expected to engage them in secular pursuits, 
unless they can be made to see that the claims of Christ on them are 
paramount, and that his rewards surpass infinitely all that earth can 
offer. Until the churches are thoroughly aroused to this great matter, 
so that our pious young men, sharing in the common impulse, shall he in- 
spired with the spirit of a truly Christian chivalry, with the healthful 
enthusiasm of a loyalty to Christ that shall make his service the best and 
highest to their thought, the ranks of the ministry are not hkely to be 
filled with the choicest sons of believing parents. 

5. It is not less important, likewise, that those whose attention is di- 
rected toward the ministry, should be led, from the outset, and by the 
whole drift and spirit of their education, to regard it as eminently de- 
manding a self-devoting and world-renouncing spirit. 

Where the church is organically connected with the State, and so is 



MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 175 

directly related to political and civil life, the tendency, necessarily, is, to 
regard the ministry simply as a profession, — as offering agreeable em- 
ployment, a respectable position, opportunity for literary culture, a 
comfortable livelihood, and, with all these, a prospect of advancement. 
It is but natural, that to those who enter the ministry with such a view 
of it as this, — who choose it, as others choose the profession of law or 
medicine, for the sake of the worldly advantages it offers them, — it 
should seem entirely proper to desire, and habitually to seek to reach, 
the highest and the best positions. But it will be a sad day for the in- 
terests of pure religion in our churches, when our young men generally 
shall think of the pastoral oflSce as they think of the secular professions, 
and seek, in entering it, chiefly the gratification of their own tastes, 
and their own comfort and respectability in life. Any approach to such 
a state of things may well excite alarm. Christ does not call men into 
the ministry, as into a mere profession, in which to make agreeable pro- 
vision for themselves. He calls them into it as into a high and holy ser- 
vice, in which, with disinterested devotion to his person, to toil, to con- 
tend, to suffer, if need be, for the saving of men's souls, and for the honor 
of his name. To seek one's own pleasure in entering the ministry ; to 
indulge, when in it, an ambitious and worldly spirit, — to be dissatisfied 
with the position in which Christ has placed one, because it is obscure, 
or because the people are not refined, or because one's sphere seems cir- 
cumscribed; in short, to be intent on personal advantages, and disposed 
to get away from difficulties, instead of facing them with courage, is to 
mistake, sadly and totally, the nature of the work which has been given 
in charge to his ministers by the ascended Lord. All this is, in general 
terms, admitted. 

But is there not need to make the necessity of self-sacrifice far more 
prominent, when the claims of the ministry are pressed upon the young 
men of our churches, than it has been hitherto? If it is for the home 
missionary work and for the foreign missionary work that we are now 
specially concerned to raise up ministers, care must he talcen to educate 
them into such views and such a spirit as will fit them for these forms 
of Christian labor. From the first, our pious sons must be taught to 
dismiss the romantic notion, that they may look forward to the ministry 
as affording a position in which to gratify their literary tastes, and to 
enjoy intelligent and refined society. They must be led to regard an 
entrance into the sacred office as committing them to a service, high in- 
deed and honorable, divinely appointed, and connected with the sublim- 
est satisfactions and rewards ; but yet attended, or liable to be attended, 
with privations and trials, and even with personal sufferings, analogous 
to those of which the life of Christ himself, and of Puul and his fellow- 
apostles, were so full. To this education of pious young men to higher 
and more spiritual conceptions of the work of the ministry, and to purer 
and more disinterested aims. Christian parents and the Christian pulpit 
must contribute. College officers must make conscience of lending all 
their influence to help it on. Above all, our theological seminaries must 
give d very marked prominence to spiritual culture, in its course of train- 



176 MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

ing, and must be pre-eminently pervaded by a warm, vitalizing and in- 
spiring Christian atmosphere. Even the most ample learning and the 
most complete dogmatic knowledge will fail utterly to give us the min- 
istry we need, if not steeped in devout affection, and consecrated by the 
baptism, and rich indwelling, of the Holy Spirit of God. It is for the 
churches to look to this, and to insist that the cuUivation of a fervent per- 
sonal piety shall not only be distinctly recognized as a prominent part 
of the work to be accomplished in the theological seminary, but shall he 
made subordinate to nothing else. We believe it wrong to say, as has 
been sometimes said that there is less of a devotional spirit among theo- 
logical students than among the average of Christians elsewhere. We 
think it especially wrong to blame the few and overtasked professors, 
whose attention must necessarily be very largely occupied with their 
several departments, for not doing all that is needed to produce, with 
steadiness, an elevated tone of Christian feeling. Partioular provision 
ought to be made, in every theological institution, for the spiritual 
training of all connected with it; to this should be added habitual and 
earnest prayer for the young men themselves, and their instructors. 
Then we may expect that the end desired will be attained. So long as 
but little is done, or thought necessary to be done, to produce, among 
those who are designing to enter the ministry, an apostolic spirit, — a 
holy self-consecration like that which made Brainerd, and the great 
Edwards, even, willing to preach the gospel to poor Indians in the wil- 
derness, — so long we shall lack the men whom the present wants of the 
Christian cause, and of our own denomination, urgently demand. We 
can not reasonably expect to bring forward a ministry of eminent 
spiritual earnestness, of self-sacrificing and heroic zeal and energy, 
unless we seriously propose this, and adapt our methods of training to 
effect it. 

6. While those who look forward to the ministry are taught to do it 
in a spirit of self-sacrifice, the churches must be made to feel, far more 
deeply than they have generally done hitherto, the necessity of a just and 
liberal support of those who are in the work. 

As the subject of ministerial support is referred to another committee, 
which will, doubtless, present it fully, we do not propose to speak of it 
here at length. Yet, standing, as it does, in very important relations to the 
difficulties connected with the work of bringing young men into the minis- 
try, we can not properly omit to notice it. When we insist that our young j 
men must be ready to do and to suffer anything for Christ, we do not mean '\ 
to imply that ministers are under a different law of self-consecration, from ^ 
that which binds the members of the churches generally. If it is their ■ 
duty cheerfully to meet all the trials, and even hardships, which are -' 
necessary, it is the sacred duty of the churches to see to it that they suf- 
fer none that are unnecessary, — none that an honest readiness to render '■ 
unto them a due reward of their labors would prevent. It can not be 
doubted, that the want of justice in the adequate support of those who 
serve at Christ's altars in word and doctrine, — a want of justice often -J 
so palpable that it is seen and known of all, — is one of the most power^ ^ \ 



MINISTEHIAL EDUCATION. 177 

ful among the causes which operate to turn the most gifted young men 
from the ministry to other pursuits. Is it strange, if a young man sees, 
that after having spent ten years in hard study, and expended three or 
four thousand dollars for his education and the beginning of a library, 
the churches will not, on the average, pay him any more salary than is 
given to a respectable clerk in a mercantile establishment, he is not able 
to see it to be his duty to consent to such injustice? Is it strange that 
he concludes that he has the same liberty as other men, to employ his 
talents and his acquisitions in such a way that he may reap the fruits of 
his industry and toil? Say that it would be wise in him to commit him- 
self to Christ, and leave the matter of recompense to him; but this does 
not relieve the wrong, on the part of the churches, of wishing ministers 
to serve them without reasonable compensation; and, further, when 
young men are called to decide the question of their future course, they 
are corhmonly young in Christian experience, as well as years. They 
can not be expected to take such views of the subject as might be taken 
by one who had attained to the highest life of Christian faith. It is clear 
that the members of the churches must be willing to share the burdens 
and self-sacrifices of the ministry, and must honestly and fairly do what 
they can to diminish these, if they will have the service of the young 
men whom God has endowed with the choicest gifts in the pastoral work. 
They can not expect, and ought not to expect, if they are not willing to 
do this, that the gifted sons of Christian parents wiU be eager to give 
themselves to the sacred office. 

7. Let us add, still further, more systematic and faithful efibrt should 
be made to enkindle in the churches, and especially in the children of the 
churches, a heartier love for the simple worship and admirable polity 
from which we have derived such precious spiritual benefits. 

That there has been great neglect among us in respect to transmitting 
the views and spirit of the fathers to the children, there is no need, we 
suppose, to prove. For the last fifty years or more, pastors and churches, 
colleges and theological seminaries, appear to have bestowed very little 
direct attention on the matter. ISTo provision has been made in the theo- 
logical curriculum for thorough instruction as to the history, the princi- 
ples, and the practical advantages of our chm'ch order. While our simple 
forms admit of being made — all the more from their simplicity — pleas- 
ing to a healthful taste, attractive to the heart, and solemnly impressive, 
they have been too often made to appear barren and uninviting, by a 
careless, slovenly, and perfunctory manner, in the administrations of 
God's house. It has seemed to be too much forgotten, in the leading of 
the praise and worship of the public assembly, and in the administration 
of Christian ordinances, that with these things should always be asso- 
ciated a sacred comeliness and grace, so that it should be felt by all, that, 
as in the days of old, strength and beauty conjoined were in the sanc- 
tuary. The result of these things has obviously been some degree, at 
least, of decay of interest in our distinguishing peculiarities, of which 
others have been, and are now, ready to take advantage; and some of 
Puritan descent have been led to place themselves again under the same 
12 



178 MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

systems of ecclesiastical authority from which it cost their liberty-loving 
ancestors long struggles, and, in many instances, sufferings unto death, to 
break away. 

Plainly, then, it is high time that a new interest in this subject were 
awakened. Are our ecclesiastical principles, as a denomination, true, 
scriptural, and of great practical importance? Were they worth con- 
tending for, when for them so many of our venerated forefathers wore 
out their best years in filthy prisons, or went to barbarous deaths to vin- 
dicate them for the sake of their posterity? Then are we recreant and 
degenerate, indeed, if we fail to teach them to our children from their 
early years, and to hold them dear to our own hearts. While writing 
these pages, it has been stated to us that it has become a common prac- 
tice in a section of New England to send to the theological institutions 
of another denomination for students to supply, during their vacations, 
destitute churches. We trust there may be some mistake in this singu- 
lar statement; and yet such an occurrence might not seem an altogether 
improbable illustration of the indifference which has silently stolen over 
us. Surely there is need to revive the spirit of John Robinson, of Shep- 
ard. Hooker, and Davenport. We must reassert their principles. They 
should be inculcated at the fireside. They should be taught in the pul- 
pit. They should be embodied in popular tracts, and sown all over the 
land. Especially should every theological institution have a professor- 
ship, or at least a lectureship, which should thoroughly discuss them; 
and every theological student should be required, as one of the conditions 
of licensure to show himself able and willing to defend them. When 
there shall be such a revival of the spirit, and such a return to the prin- 
ciples, of the men to whom, under God, we owe our best religious bless- 
ings, we may expect to have a ministry adapted to our wants as lovers 
of the largest healthful rehgious freedom. 

8. Finally: the committee will only suggest further, that, in view of 
the existing and the prospective necessities of the churches, as regards 
the ministry, it becomes an urgent duty to labor and pray more earnestly 
for the conversion of young men. 

" Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth laborers," 
said our blessed Lord. Pastors and teachers were among the gifts 
which, at his ascension, he received power to bestow on men; and these, 
like other gifts, are dispensed under the law of prayer. The hinderances 
to piety in the case of young men are, at this time and in a country such 
as ours, so very great, that unless direct and special effort is made for 
their early conversion, and that with strength of faith and persistency 
of prayer on their behalf, we can not expect to see them devoting their 
lives from the outset unto God. It is needful to call attention very fre- 
quently to this matter. Especially in connection with the observance of 
the annual day of prayer for colleges should the whole subject of the 
early conversion of young men, in all its interesting relations, be set 
faithfully before the churches. Such a solicitude in respect to this should 
be kept alive in the hearts of all who are engaged in the instruction of 
young men, as shall lead them to propose it distinctly to themselves, as 



MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 179 

an essential part of the best education of the precious sons of the church, 
to win their hearts to Christ. Every thing, in a word, that can be done, 
should be done diligently and on system, to bring those especially who 
are pursuing courses of hberal study under the full influence of Chris- 
tian truth. No college oflficer should feel that he is doing his whole duty 
if he is not striving to accomplish this. Revivals of religion in our 
churches and our colleges, so deep and powerful in their effects that far 
greater numbers than have hitherto been reached may be gathered unto 
God, should be desired and sought with an earnestness that will not be 
denied. If the measure of God's bestowment, both in the light of rea- 
son and the Scriptures, is seen to be — according to your faith he it unto 
you — there should be a new kindling-up of holy confidence in Christ, 
the Head of the church and the dispenser of all grace, — a new spirit of 
intercession for the sending forth of the Holy Ghost to renew unto 
repentance and Christian life the choicest of our sons, and a deeper and 
more general consecration, on the part of Christian parents, of their chil- 
dren to the work of the gospel ministry. When fathers and mothers 
plead, and the united churches plead, and a faithful ministry plead, — 
when the hearts of all Christ's servants are set on the consecration of 
the brightest jewels of their households unto God, — we need not doubt 
that divine power will indeed work wonders, and that the ranks of the 
ministry will find a multitude prepared to enter them. It is not enough 
that we know this and say it; in good earnest we must act as if our 
INMOST hearts belieyed IT. There is no need to enlarge on this. 

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

The committee have thus endeavored, so far as they were able, to bring 
the more important aspects of the great subject referred to them to the 
notice of the Council. They have not deemed it becoming in them to 
indicate the particular action to be taken by this body. They have sup- 
posed that this should be left to be determined by the Council itself, after 
full discussion had. They can not doubt that it will seem to' the fathers 
and brethren here assembled, that such measures should be adopted by 
those representing the churches here, in regard to a matter so vitally 
connected with our entire religious system, as will secure the inauguration 
of a new era in our history, and lead speedily to the attainment of the 
desired practical results. The urgency of our need and of the time for- 
bids delay, and demands that something effectual be done. Whatever 
difficulties attend the subject, it calls us to face them without flinching, 
and promptly, as ministers and churches, to address ourselves to the 
work which God is imposing on us. By some it has been suggested 
that a plan be devised to induce each self-sustaining church to pledge 
itself to secure the education of a number of young men at least equal to 
the number of ministers required for its own supply; since any church 
failing to do so much as this, in fact, enjoys its ministry at the expense, 
in part or altogether, of other churches. Some have suggested, also, the 
creation of a Bureau of Clerical Education^ at the head of which should 
be placed one of the wisest, ablest, and most practical men to be found 



180 MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

among our pastors, who should devote his best and undivided energies 
to the work of stimulating, enlightening, and guiding the efforts of the 
churches, and setting forward, in all practicable ways, and throughout 
the whole country, the momentous work that is needful to be done. The 
Society for the promotion of Collegiate Education at the West has con- 
tributed largely, by its wise and efficient action, to the supply of an edu- 
cated ministry in that vast opening region, where the present and pro- 
spective need is greatest. To that society, vigorously sustained, we must 
look for yet greater results in the era that now opens. It may be pos- 
sible for the Council to give some new impulse to the action of this noble 
society. The committee may, perhaps, offer a brief supplementary re- 
port, with special reference to this. Other methods will, doubtless, be 
suggested by the wisdom of this body. 

Let, then, the Council determine that the things which, it has been 
seen, we are as churches called to do, shall resolutely be done. Let 
them indicate the course to be pursued, and take the initiative at once. 
Not a day is to be lost. We are like men standing on the shore when 
the flood-tide is sweeping in; we must move forward, or- be overwhelmed. 
The well-being of our churches is waiting on us. The cause of true relig- 
ion in our land is waiting on us. The salvation of our country, which 
the blessed gospel alone can save, is waiting on us. The providence of 
God itself is waiting on us. Here, for a century to come, and much 
longer, it may be, must be waged, between the kingdom of Christ and 
that of the prince of darkness, a mighty moral conflict which shall be as 
the great battle of Armageddon, and will involve results which our 
thought endeavors in vain to grasp. If, in past years, our hearts have 
been stirred at the consideration of the work which we saw before us 
and our children, much more should we now be aroused to comprehend 
the greatness, the sublimity, of the coming struggle, and to address our- 
selves to it with manly earnestness and in the strength of God. Let our 
faith be firm, that he who hath carried us successfully through the perils, 
blood, and tears of the stupendous war just closed, — who has placed 
four millions of freedmen within the reach of Christian influence, — who 
has caused our glorious flag — more glorious now than ever — to float 
peacefully over the whole land, so that every part is open to the gospel, — 
will crown with his abundant blessing the efforts of his servants to make 
Christianity here triumphant, to the exaltation and happiness of this 
great people. If now we show ourselves equal to the crisis, our coun- 
try, powerful, regenerate, and free, shall also stand, for coming ages, 
illustrious, among the nations, as the home of intelligence, vir- 
tue, AND RELIGION. 

Eat Palmer, ") 

Franklin W. Fisk, > Committee. 
John P. Gulliver, ) 



At twelve o'clock, the reading of the above paper was sus- 
pended, for the purpose of calhng the roll, which was read over 
and corrected. 



f 



PAPERS REFERRED. 181 

Rev. Dr. Kirk, of Massachusetts, read a list of persons to offi- 
ciate in religious services to-morrow, in various Congregational 
churches in Boston and vicinity. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Wolcott, for the Business Committee, 

Eesolved, That a committee of five be appointed by this Council, to 
consider the subject of securing, for the permanent use of our denomina- 
tion, a house of worship in the City of Washington; and, if they deem it 
expedient for the churches of our order to engage in such a movement, 
that the said committee be requested to report to this Council a plan for 
its accomplishment 

Rev. Mr. Langworthy, from the committee on Nominations, 
reported the following members, as the committee on the above 
subject : — 

Henry C. Bowen, of New York; Dea. Charles Stoddard, of Massachu- 
setts; Kev. Leonard Bacon, D. d., of Connecticut; Hon. Douglas Put- 
nam, of Ohio ; Hon. Samuel C. Pomeroy, of Kansas. 

The report was adopted. 

Rev. Mr. Quint, from the Business Committee, reported the 
following • papers, with recommendation of reference, as fol- 
lows : — 

Papers regarding Lincoln College, presented by Hon. Mr. Pomeroy: 
to be referred to a special committee on collegiate education, hereafter to 
be appointed. 

Memorial respecting civil government as an ordinance of God : to he 
referred to the committee on the state of the country. 

Kesolution respecting the declaration of faith, and the propriety of 
having a catechism: to be referred to the committee on the Declaration 
of Faith. 

Communication respecting temperance: to be referred to a special 
committee on temperance, hereafter to be appointed. 

Papers presented by Eev. Dr. Post, in regard to the church in Utah: 
to be referred to the committee on Evangehzation in the West and 
South. 

Communication prepared by Rev. Rufus W. Clark, respecting an Ameri- 
can Protestant Assembly : to be referred to a special committee upon 
that subject, hereafter to be appointed. 

Communication from California: to be referred to the committee ou 
Evangelization in the West and South. 

The recommendations were adopted. 



182 MEETING AT CHARLESTOWN. 

It was also 

Voted, That a special committee be appointed, who shall consider and 
report to this Council, what deliverance, if any, it ought to make on the 
subject of temperance. 

CHURCH POLITY. 

Rev. Mr. Langworthy, of the committee on Nominations, re- 
ported the name of Rev. Enoch F. Burr, of Connecticut, as an 
additional member of the committee on church polity. 

The report was adopted. 

The convention then adjourned, under the previous order, to 
meet at Charlestown, at three o'clock, p. M., in the First Congre- 
gational Church. 

AFTEEISrOOK SESSION. 

In accordance with the vote of the Council yesterday the 
afternoon session was held in the First Church, Charlestown, to 
comply with the recommendation of the preliminary meeting 
of state committees, that a special service of devotion be held, 
" for the acknowledgment of the marvelous and merciful deal- 
ings of Almighty God with the nation, in connection with the 
war." 

The chair was taken at three o'clock by Rev. Dr. Thompson, 
of New York, assistant moderator, who said : — 

The hour has arrived to which the Council adjourned to meet in this 
place. In the absence of Gov. Buckingham, who has been called to Con- 
necticut, and of Col. Hammond, who is elsewhere engaged, it devolves 
upon me to take the chair, though the general direction of the meeting 
will be in the hands of Dr. Adams, in behalf of the committee on devo- 
tional exercises. The Council will remember that we are now con- 
vened under a special order for "A service of devotion for the ac- 
knowledgment of the marvelous and merciful deahngs of Almighty 
God with the nation, in connection with the war, and for supplicating a 
gracious dispensation of the Spirit of God upon the land, that our 
restored national unity may be consecrated in righteousness, and in the 
peace and joy of the Holy Ghost." Let us hear, then, the word of the 
Lord, as it is written in the 105th Psalm. 

The 20th Psalm was also read, and a portion of the 12tb 
chapter of Revelation. 



MEETING AT CHARLESTOWN. 188 

The 1115th hymn was then sung, commencing, — 

" Oh, God, beneath thy guiding hand, 
Our exiled fathers crossed the sea. 
And when they trod the wintry strand. 

With prayer and psalm they worshiped thee." 

Eev. Dr. Adams, of Maine. As Dr. Thompson has remarked that, 
after the introductory exercises, the general direction of the meeting 
will be left with myself, acting in behalf of the committee on devo- 
tional exercises, I will now fulfill my vocation, and give this direction to 
the meeting : it is left to itself. No provision, so far as I know, has been 
made for jDarticular persons to speak. It is, as I understand it, a meeting 
for the free and spontaneous utterance of exultation one to another, and 
of desire in prayer to God; and the hope is, that the short time that we 
may spend together will be occupied, in very small portions, by a great 
number of individuals. Will Dr. Edward Beecher lead in prayer ? 

Kev. Dr. Beecher, of Illinois. I wish to say one word before we 
unite in prayer. It is desirable that our devotions be not formal, but 
that they may be the simple expressions of the feelings of the heart. I 
presume there is no brother hete who can not, in going back through the 
war, recall meetings in which, with his Congregational brethren, the bur- 
den of the nation was upon his soul. I recollect a meeting in Burling- 
ton, when the General Association of Iowa had appointed an hour for 
prayer. I was struck with the deep current of feeling there. It was 
like that expression which you will find in Romans, — " We know not 
what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh inter- 
cession for us with groanings which can not be uttered." Our armies 
were then around Yicksburg, and soldiers from all the churches scattered 
around through that whole country were at that time engaged in deadly 
conflict, and we knew not what we should hear next. Who can tell what 
a depth of feeling there was then? — what a movement of the Holy Ghost? . 

]!!^ow, brethren, who of us is there who can go back during the time 
of the war and not remember some such scenes? Remember what bur- 
dens the providence of God laid upon us ; remember with what intense 
anxiety we looked into the future, and remember what tides of emotion 
flowed through our souls; take your stand-point there, and think how 
we felt, how we prayed, how we wrestled, how we desired, how we 
longed, and with that state of feeling compare what we are now and 
where we are! Oh, what expressions of gratitude there ought to be! 
How our hearts should overflow! There is no language that can ex- 
press what God hath done for us. So high, so deep, so long, so broad, so 
great are his mercies, that words can not utter them. 

Take one other instance: our feelings at the time of the election. 
When, all over this land, we felt that it was possible the control of the 
interests of this nation might pass into the hands of such men as made 
the Chicago platform, that such a man as Yallandigham might be ap- 
pointed minister of war, — then the voice of prayer went up from the 
church of God; and I beheve that that election was as much controlled 



184 MEETING AT CHARLESTOWN. 

by prayer as any revival of religion ever was, — that there was as mani- 
fest an outpouring of the Spirit of God upon this nation. Let us go 
back and think with what deep emotions the triumph which we then 
achieved, in the providence of God, was received. How it filled our 
thoughts! We have become somewhat used to these things; but let us 
refresh the recollection in our minds, and wake up our souls to utterance, 
that the voice of prayer and praise and thanksgiving may go up to God 
as the real ex^Dression of the Congregational body. And, without in- 
tending to flatter, but simply intending to speak the truth, those who 
have lived in the Mississippi valley know, that with regard to this great 
movement of loyalty, that with regard to the great principles that have 
been brought up and impressed upon the government, the voice of our 
associations and the voice of our churches have always been in advance ; 
that they have held up that principle, which has been carried out; and 
we ought to thank God that there is a record in regard to the i30sitiou 
of our chm'ches on these great questions, as they have come up, which we 
are not ashamed to read to-day. And let us thank God that the spirit 
of his Christ has been upon us, to enable us, in this hour, to be faithful 
to our God and to our country. Let us pray. 

At the conclusion of the prayer, E,ev. Dr. Todd, of Massachu- 
setts, addressed the assembly. He said : — 

I have a claim to a moment of the time of my brethren, which per- 
haps no other brother here has. When I came in at the door this 
afternoon, I found myself coming nearer and nearer the pulpit; and 
when I say that, in my boyhood, if I ever knew anything about the 
rehgion of Christ and the mercy of the Eedeemer, I learned it here; that 
on this spot I consecrated myself publicly, by uniting with this ancient 
church, and on this spot devoted myself to the work of the ministry, if 
the Master would accept me, you will understand why I did so. My 
memory goes back to the time when Jeremiah Evarts walked these aisles 
as one of the deacons of this church, and to the time when, later, Prof. 
Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, and his family were baptized. I re- 
call the image of old Dea. Miller, whom President Monroe, when he came 
on to visit us, took with him as a guide, to tell him all about the battle ; and 
in the course of his investigations, he said, " What about that, Mr. Mil- 
ler? " — " What about that? " — and " What about this? " " Well," said 
the deacon, " Mr. President, I feel a little ashamed, that I can not tell 
you more, but the fact is, I was very busy on the day of Bunker Hill." 
[Laughter.] We have been so busy that we have hardly kept sight of 
the influences that have gone forth from this spot, this old mother of us 
all. Just before this church was organized, just before our fathers came 
here, there was a colony planted on the James Eiver, and another col- 
ony here on the banks of the Charles Eiver, that we have just crossed, — 
the principles of the two colonies difiering entirely. The one sought to 
make the gos^Dcl free to all, — to build upon the foundation of the apostles 
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief conier-stone, — to make 



MEETING AT CHARLESTOWN. 186 

labor honorable to every man, and to establish the principle, that if any 
man would not work, neither should he eat. The other colony was 
planted on the principle, that if any man would eat, another should work 
for him and earn his bread. The principles of these two colonies have 
been in conflict from that day to this. They have struggled whenever 
and wherever they have met, and the result has been, as you know, dear 
brethren, that there was no end to the conflict, until at last we met upon 
the battle-field. The sons of New England here and throughout all the 
West accepted the issue, and we are met together this afternoon to con- 
gratulate om-selves and to thank God that the principles of the Charles 
River colony, the principles of the Puritan fathers, the princijDles of this 
ancient church, have prevailed, and the land is free — is puritaiiized, or 
will be puritanized, from one end to the other. 

■ Our errand here is to meet before God; and no more suitable place 
could be selected than this sanctuary, where there has been much j)rayer 
offered, — from whence many noble saints have gone, whose influence, I 
hope and believe, has but just begun. Here, feeling that we can almost 
feel the warm breath of our fathers, — we meet to rejoice, to thank God, 
to take courage, and to go forth, dear brethren, feeling that we and our 
churches and our church polity and our nation now are joined to the 
plans of the great Redeemer; and wherever his chariot-wheels shall go, 
we shall be near them. 

Rev. James B. Miles, pastor of the church, was then intro 
duced. He said : — 

Mr. Moderator^ and Fathers and Brethren of this Congregational 
Council: — The committee of arrangements thought it fitting that the 
pastor of this church should say a word of welcome to the fathers and 
brothers who come up to this ancient shrine of liberty and of religion 
this afternoon. I might well shrink from the thought of occupying a 
single moment of the exceedingly precious time of this Congregational 
Council; but, fathers and brethren, if you will allow me a few moments 
at this time, you may feel assured that I shall not again, during the ses- 
sion of the Council, trespass upon your patience, unless I shall discover 
that you are in danger of departing from the soundness of the faith and 
from the order of the fathers. If, at any moment, I shall discover that, 
I shall feel bound, as one in the regular apostolic succession, to rise, and 
protest against any defection from the " faith once delivered to the saints," 
or any departure from the order of the primitive churches of iN'ew Eng- 
land. 

I am oppressed with a sense of the inadequacy of any words that I can 
command, upon the impulse of the moment, to express the delight of 
these Christian men and women, the members of this old church in 
Charlestown, on welcoming you to our church edifice this afternoon. 
In the name of all these devoted men and women, I welcome you to this 
hallowed spot at this hour. Yea, in the name of all the chm-ches in the 



186 MEETING AT CHARLESTOWN. 

immediate neighborlioocl of this city of Charlestown, who have honcred 
me by sending me as their delegate to this Council, I welcome you to 
Harvard Hill, this afternoon. Yea, in the name of the sons of Bunker 
Hill, without distinction of sect, who are here, crowding these galleries 
and the side-slips of the church, I welcome you to this renowned historic 
city. For, fathers and brethren, these Christian men and women, these 
sons of Bunker Hill, have already, over in the city of Boston, felt the 
spell of your fervid eloquence ; they have heard the expressions of your 
devoted love of country; and they have heard those eloquent, those 
warm words of salutation, and those expressions of love for Amer- 
ica, that have fallen from the lips of our distinguished and reverend 
brethren who have come to us from the good old mother-country, from 
England, from France, and from Canada, — and they welcome you all, 
with hearts full of gladness and joy, to Bunker Hill this afternoon. 
Would that it were in my power, Mr. Moderator, to reciprocate, ade- 
quately, these expressions of fellowship and love. Standing on this hal- 
lowed siDot, — the most sacred spot, I believe, on this continent, — I desire 
to take you by the hand, and to extend, through you, to the members of 
this Council, to these brethren from the regions beyond the Hudson 
Eiver, who have come to us from the great West, — to these brethren 
from Tennessee, and from Maryland, and from Delaware, and from the 
Pacific Coast, — to these fathers and brethren who have come to us from 
the mother-country, from France, and from Canada, — to all the brethren 
who are in this Council, I wish, through you, sir, to extend this right 
hand of Christian fellowship, and to welcome you all, and all the churches 
you represent, to this old home of Puritanism, of Congregationalism, and 
of Eepublicanism. [Loud applause.] 

America's great statesman and orator, when standing on Plymouth 
Eock, said, "The genius of the place awes and inspires us;" and we, 
brethren, may feel that the genius of this place awes and inspires us. 
Eeminiscences, I must not speak of They crowd into my mind, and I 
should occupy all the time appropriated to this meeting, were I to enter 
upon them. Suffice it to say, that, two hundred and thirty-five years 
ago, that noble and sainted man, John Winthrop, — a nobler Christian, 
I believe, has rarely lived than he, — and his companions, immediately 
after landing, bowed, in worship and reverence, before Almighty God, 
under the spreading branches of an oak-tree that stood upon this hill; 
and ever since that hour, with the exception of about three years, when 
the town was burned, at the time of the attack upon it by the British, the 
worship of Almighty God has been continued on this spot, without inter- 
ruption, and Christian men and women have come up hither to pay their 
vows to the Most High. Christ and Him crucified have been preached 
here. And let me say to you, who love our Congregational polity, that 
you see, I believe, in the perpetuity of this church down to the present 
time, through all the mutations of states and empires, an illustration of 
the nobility, of the sublimity, of our simple Congregational church pol- 
ity. Upon this spot a pure. Christian republic has been maintained, 
from that hour down to the present; and though convulsions have shaken 



MEETING AT CHARLESTOWN. 18T 

the nation, though the house of worship in which the Christians met was 
burned, yet the bush was not consumed. The members of the church 
were obliged to disperse, but the church hved, and when it was safe to 
return to their desolate homes, they came back to this hill, and here, in 
a rude block-house, erected by the enemy, they celebrated the dying love 
of their Lord Jesus Christ. Down to the present hour, without any other 
interruption, the worship of God has been maintained here. The faith- 
fulness of Almighty God, — this church is a monument of that; the nobil- 
ity, the sublimity of simple republican Congregational church govern- 
ment, — this church bears eloquent testimony to that. 

'Now, beloved fathers and brethren, we have come together on this 
spot, to-day, — on this proud, high day for the sons of Bunker Hill; for 
this is our patriotic and religious anniversary. You see the stars and 
stripes floating from these flag-staffs, — you hear the strains of martial 
music; it'is a proud, high day for the sons of Bunker Hill; and we wel- 
come you with joy on this day, praising and blessing Almighty God, 
that that independence which, ninety years ago, was practically achieved 
by the battle on the eminence yonder, has been maintained, that those 
precious rights and privileges and institutions have been rescued and pre- 
served, and we come together with joy, that we may praise Almighty 
God, who has wrought this great deliverance for us. 

My friends, after a feW moments, you will be invited, by the president 
of the Bunker Hill Monument Association, to look upon that shaft, which 
uphfts its form in majesty on yonder eminence; and I beseech you, as 
you look upon its uninscribed surface, to look intently, and see if you 
can not read an inscription there. You may not discover any at first; 
but we, who live beneath its shadow, and daily look upon it, in its maj- 
esty, and in its simple, plain beauty and grandeur, read many inscrip- 
tions there; we have read many during the past eventful four years. 
Sometimes, when have come to us the sad tidings that our sons and broth- 
ers have been slain by hundreds upon the battle-field, and the hearts 
of mothers, fathers, and brothers, have sunk within them, — then, through 
our tears, we have looked at that plain, but noble, shaft, and while we 
have read lamentation and weeping and mourning inscribed there, yet, 
on looking a little longer, there have come out, clear and legible, the in- 
spiring words, " Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and insepara- 
ble! " [Applause.] When the hearts of strong men failed, when rebels 
were insolent and boastful, when our noble heroes were driven back upon 
the battle-field, and people all about were saying, " It may be, that our 
government must fall," we have looked at that noble shaft, to see if it 
trembled or tottered, — but firm and immovable has it stood, and its 
language has been, " Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and in- 
separable I " And when the saddest of all tidings came to us over the 
wires, "Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States, has been assas- 
sinated," and this whole community was crushed down, as if by a blow 
of the Almighty, we looked through our fast-streaming tears, and we 
saw the same inscription. Though the shaft seemed to be clad in deep- 
est mourning, we could yet distinctly read, " Liberty and Union, now 



188 MEETING AT CHARLESTOWN. 

and forever, one and inseparable!" And to-day, as the bright and glo- 
rious morning of peace dawns, — as our heroes, the sons of Bunker Hill, 
who have fought shoulder to shoulder with the noble and brave heroes 
of ^ew England, of the West, and of all the loyal States, are returning 
to their homes, and we are wreathing their brows with chaplets of un- 
dying honor, — to-day, I say, as you go up on that eminence, and look 
upon that shaft, methinks you will see this inscription, having taken upon 
itself new luster and beauty, and shining with dazzling glory, — " Lib- 
erty AND Union, now and forever, one and inseparable ! " 
[Loud applause.] 

We are glad to welcome the representatives of old Mother England — 
good Mother England. With all her faults, we love her still; and we 
feel that they need not have any unpleasant feelings to-day, as they stand 
upon that spot. It is true, that, ninety years ago, Old England and 
Young America met in dire and deadly conflict there; but it was only 
a misunderstanding between mother and daughter. Mother loved daugh- 
ter too well, and was not willing that daughter should depart from her 
care and watchfulness, and daughter felt that she had reached the pe- 
riod of womanhood, and could be her own mistress. So there was a 
misunderstanding, — a falling-out, — and daughter prevailed. We will 
not be particular to say we won a great victory there, for the champions 
of the mother-country say it was a defeat for us. We admit, it was a 
defeat for us ; but we add, with a great deal of confidence and gratifica- 
tion, that it was one of those defeats which is better than a victory ; and 
the immortal Daniel Webster, who stands, in enduring bronze, in front 
of our State Capitol at this hour, said, "All that is noble and valuable 
in the independence of America was bound up in that battle of Bun- 
ker Hill. When the sun of that day went down, the independence of 
America was decided." It was a decisive battle ; but we welcome the 
representatives of old Mother England to-day. We welcome the repre- 
sentatives of Erance. France! — we speak her name with joy, as we 
think of Bunker Hill; for the illustrious and immortal Gren. Lafayette, in 
1825, on stepping upon that spot, said, " I feel a profound reverence, as I 
tread upon this hallowed ground." We owe a debt of gratitude to Gen. 
Lafayette. We feel kindly toward France; we welcome her messengers 
and representatives to Bunker Hill. We welcome all to Bunker Hill, — 
to its noble associations. 

But, dear brethren and fathers, I must not protract these remarks. 1 
wiU simply say, that, as I look over this congregation, and the thought, 
occurs to me of what is represented here, — three thousand churches on 
this continent, and as many more in other countries, — a vision of glory 
comes before my mind. You know, that some of the ablest astronomers 
feel and believe that there is one central body or point in the system of 
the universe, and that all the fixed stars, and the milky way, even, re- 
volve round that one central point, receive their law from it, and are 
controlled by it. I say, it is a grand and surpassingly sublime concep- 
tion, giving us noble ideas of God, who, in wisdom, has made this uni- 
verse. But, as I look over this assembly, and remember of what it is 



MEETING AT CHARLESTOWN. 189 

composed, a sublimer vision is before my mind, — a more transcendent 
and sm-passingly noble conception; and that is, of individual Christian 
chnrches, of the same faith and order as this, — " one faith, one Lord, 
one baptism," — scattered over our land, and, in the progress of pure 
Christianity and of republican principles, destined to prevail through the 
length and breadth of the land, — all over the South, as well as l!Tew 
England and the West; and when I think that, in the progress of the 
simple faith of the New Testament, these churches are to be established, 
not only on this great continent, but all over the world, and look upon 
them as independent bodies, they seem to me to be revolving about one 
central point, — one central sun, — and that is, the Sun of Eighteous- 
ness, — the Lord Jesus Christ. ISTo sovereignty but the sovereignty of 
Jesus. That central point is not Pope Pius the l^inth, nor any pope, but 
the Lord Jesus. All stand upon the same level. " One is your Master, 
even Christ, and all ye are brethren." And my prayer is, that "the 
baptism of the Holy Ghost, sent down from heaven," may come down 
upon us; that Jesus may come down into our hearts; that we may go 
from this place with a new baptism, ready to labor, to spend and be 
spent for Jesus; so that the day may speedily come, when -there shall 
be neither Englishman nor American, neither Frenchman nor Canadian, 
neither ISJ'orthern man nor Southern man, neither bond nor free, but 
Christ shall be all in all. May God hasten that great and glorious con- 
summation, and honor us as the instruments of its accomplishment, and 
praise shall be to His name for ever 1 

The lOSStli hymn (Sabbath Hymn Book) was then sung, 
commencing : — 

" Oh, where are kings and empires now, 
Of old that went and came 1 
But Lord, thy church is praying yet, 
A thousand years the same." 

Rev. Dr. Adams, of Maine. I was reminded by the first verse of the 
hymn, as well as by the remarks of Dr. Todd, of some reminiscences 
connected with this church. Dr. Todd's claim to prominence here is 
greater than mine in one particular, for he says he was born again on 
this spot. Mine is greater than his in another, for I was here before his 
time. JSTearly fifty years ago, I sat in this house with my venerable 
father and mother, who are long since dead ; my father's brothers, prom- 
inent men in this congregation, also long since dead; Jeremiah Evarts, 
before he was deacon; Dea. Miller and Dea. Erothingham, then old men. 
The Sabbath school connected with this church was established mainly by 
the concurrent efforts of Jeremiah Evarts and my own father. "We have 
these personal reminiscences, which it is almost impertinent to mention, 
and yet they mingle in well perhaps with those higher considerations to 
which reference has been made. 

Rev. Milton Badger, d. d., of New York, then led in prayer. 



190 MEETING AT CHARLESTOWN. 

The Modekator. Although in strictness, the honr assigned for this 
service has expired, yet, if some brother from the East or the West will 
speak in brief, earnest words, or will offer up brief, earnest prayer, I am 
sure that another half hour can be spent with pleasure and profit. You 
have the largest liberty of a Congregational prayer-meeting. 

Eev. Dr. Budington", of New York. I can not claim the right to 
speak here, as my friend and brother Dr. Todd does, for I am younger 
than he is, and have no right to claim the attention of this honored body; 
and yet, as the tone of remark hitherto has been in the way of reminis- 
cence, perhaps I shall be pardoned for expressing the feeling that per- 
vades my soul at this moment. I think there is no spot on this continent, 
all things considered, where a Congregational Christian should be more 
deeply impressed than on this. Next to Plymouth Rock in political 
significance, this is most important; and it seems to me, that standing 
where we do to-day, between the heroic past and that futm-e for the 
contemplation of which and for the preparation for which we are assem- 
bled in Council, it is a solemn moment. It is now ninety years since the 
flames of war and devastation swept over this devoted place, and the 
steeple of this church fell foremost among the dwellings over which it 
had been guardian and sentinel; emblem of the fact that it was the 
Christianity of New England that met the foe at the outset, and emblem 
of the fact that I believe will characterize the history of this country to 
the last, that with the church of G-od will stand, and with the church of 
God will fall, this republic. [A voice — " It will never fall! " ] Never! 
Half of the republic has fallen, because the church first apostatized and 
fell with it. We must remember to-day, that half of this country would 
never have presented at this hour a spectacle for men and for angels such 
as was never given to them before since Adam stood in Paradise, but for 
the fact that our brethren in the faith, ministers who ofliciated at the 
altars of God, forsook the truth of the gospel, trampled upon the rights 
of humanity, and when the hearts of their fellow-citizens were rightfully 
shrinking back from the impending conflict, goaded them forward, and 
madly plunged them into the abyss of ruin. [Cries of " Shame! 
Shame! "] Near my residence in Brooklyn, the other day, one of the 
truth-speaking ministers from Tennessee rose up in the General Assem- 
bly and said that, in the view of every loyal Christian man in East 
Tennessee, every minister of the gospel there came before them with the 
blood of at least twelve of their martyred sons staining their hands ; and, 
said he, " It is the unanimous declaration of all our people, never, never, 
NEVER will we listen to the word of God from their lijDs again; never 
shall our children look up to them as shepherds of the flock." [Loud 
applause.] 

Well, I recur to the remark that I made : Brethren, it depends upon 
us, it depends u]3on the Spirit of God in our hearts, it depends upon our 
fellow-Christians and the Spirit of God in their hearts, what the church 
in this country is to be, and I am thankful to stand here, as I never ex- 
pected to stand, on the spot of my youthful ordination. Here, five and 
tWQpty years ago, last April, I received the charge of this people, and 



MEETING AT CHARLESTOWN. 191 

for fifteen of those years I ministered to them in the name of God. 
Here I took up the blessed, the holy sacramental furniture from this table, 
— furniture which was borne aloft in the hands of that man of God 
whose name has been mentioned through the fire and the storm of bul- 
lets in this town, and then brought back again with the return of peace, 
• — bearing, upon the solid silver, names that are memorable alike in our 
church and in our state, — names that take us back to the days of Win- 
throp, — names that are baptized with the blood and tears that made 
us a nation. I am glad to stand here with you, my brethren, for it 
seems to me that, standing on this soil, we imbibe something of that 
spirit which I believe in God is the only spirit which is to make us 
faithful and successful ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ. This hill is 
consecrated to the memory of suffering. When our fathers came here 
they were called upon to suffer in as large proportion as fell upon 
their sons on Bunker Hill, or the more fatal fields of the South and the 
South-west. They died in laying the foundations of this church and 
this State, and we are assembled to-day over their forgotten graves. 
John Harvard, who gave his name to yonder University, was buried 
here, and when that storm swept over the town, it buried his humble 
memorial so that " no man knoweth unto this day his place of sepul- 
ture." This town was buried in the terrible struggle that gave birth to 
the nation, and between 1861 and 1865, the sons of this town have been 
just as prominent in the war of redemption, as it may well be called, as 
their fathers were in that war of revolution — the war of our birth-pangs. 

My dear friends, we are standing midway between the heroic past and 
the grand future, — a solemn tie of connection between our dead Puritan 
fathers and the mighty hosts of God who, in their intelligent and hearty 
reception of those Puritan principles, are to spread them to the Pacific 
shores, and down through all the ages of time to come ; and I believe 
that the influences of this day are to tell largely upon the faithfulness 
With which that work is accomplished. 

President Andrews, of Ohio. As you have invited speakers from 
the West, sir, allow me to say, that as I heard this morning the firing of 
guns and crackers, and the ringing of bells, I asked my host the mean- 
ing of it, and he said, " It is the 17th of June; " and in my simplicity, I 
said, " What is the 17th of June? " [Laughter,] He told me it was an 
anniversary. " Then," said I, "• It is like the 7th of April." On the 7th 
of April, 1788, there landed upon the banks of the Muskingum, a colony 
formed in Massachusetts, and headed by an old General of the Revolu- 
tion, composed of revolutionary oflScers who had lost their property in the 
war, and who went to the West to build themselves new homes. It has 
been my lot to labor for twenty-five years in that Plymouth of the West, 
where the first landing was made, and my home is the old capital of the 
Korth-west Territory, where the first Governor had his residence, 
where the first courts were held, and where the first laws were enacted; 
and this 17th of June is like the 7th of April, for we celebrate that day. 

It gives me great pleasure to come back to ISTew England, to meet 
these brethren, and to feel that it has been my lot, for a quarter of a cen- 



192 MEETIXG AT CHARLESTOWN. 

tnry, to endeavor to establish, and to cany out the princixDles of ^ew 
England, in a literary institution which lies nearer the equator than any 
other founded after the Xew England model ; and I rejoice to know that 
the same i3rinciples, which those brethren carried from this place, are 
there yet; that the descendants of those old sires are there yet; that 
there was established the first Congregational church in the "West, and 
that we worship in an edifice that was built at the very beginning of 
the century. It is pleasant for me to reciiDrocate these words of kind 
feeling, and I believe that, as the result of this National Council, those 
of us who have come up from the TTest and from the South-west, — 
who have been laboring to establish these princixDles which you love, 
and this polity which you revere, — will go back, to labor more zeal- 
ously, more faithfully, feeling better assured, I may say, of the com- 
mendation, of the encouragement, of the heartfelt love of our brethren 
of Xew England, than we have sometimes felt. 

My brethren, I can not forget that, thirty years ago, in Massachusetts, 
in the same class-room with me, in one of your colleges, there sat two 
men, who have made themselves men of mark. One of them preached 
that memorable sermon at oSTew Orleans, on Thanksgiving' Day, in 1860, 
in which he made the declaration, that the mission of the South was, to 
conserve and extend slavery; and the other has been, for two years, in 
Toronto, and the evidence brought out on the assassination trial brings 
in his name in connection with that detestable scheme to introduce the 
yellow fever into the United States. These men, I am thankful to be 
able to say, were not members of our communion. Perhaps they might 
have been, and perhaps they might have done as they have done if they 
had been; but, I thank God, they were not. 

Kev. Mr. G-ayloed, of ISTebraska. As the "West has been invited to take 
part in these services, as well as the East, I desire to say a few words. 
I will take but a moment or two simply to say to you, brethren and 
friends, that I come from about the center of the United States, — from 
the banks of one of those great rivers that reach from north to south, 
across the entire country; and I rejoice to say to you, that the same 
principles which were planted here in the early history of our country, 
are being transplanted, not only across the " Father of "Waters," but also 
across the " Big Muddy," — for that is the famiUar name by which the 
Missouri Eiver is known among us. As we stand upon the banks of 
that river, there are some suggestive thoughts that rush upon our minds. 
As we look down to the landing, and see, as we did last year, the men 
of Wisconsin and Minnesota, from Lacrosse, all the way down to St. 
Louis, and then up the Missouri Eiver, a distance of twenty-six hundred 
miles, to Fort Benton, at the head of navigation, on their way to the 
Eocky Mountains, we have some little conception of the vastness of our 
great western country. And then, as we look off toward the setting sun, 
away up that valley of which you have so often heard, coming down, as 
it does, for a distance of more than six hundred miles, in an almost east- 
erly direction, from the Eocky Mountains, — a valley which is the great 
thoroughfare of travel and of commerce across the continent, and up 



MEETING AT CHARLESTOWIf. 193 

which the iron horse is already preparing to go forth, bearing the civil- 
ization and the population of this part of the continent across the Kocky 
Mountains to the Pacific States, — I say, when we look out upon those 
vast stretches, they open up before the mind the greatness of the work 
which devolves upon the church, demanding her energies and her activ- 
ity in this day of miracles and of wonders ; and we feel that there is laid 
to the hands of the American church a work such as no people and no 
nation has ever before been invited to perform. But I will not dwell 
ujDon this. 

The Moderator. It has been thought necessary to draw this meet- " 
ing to a conclusion now, by singing the 1111th hymn. 

This familiar hymn, " God bless our native land," &c., was 
then sung, after which prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Bacon. 
Eev. Mr. Miles then said : — 

You will remember that a certain high functionary in what was called 
the " Southern Confederacy," once promised, with a great deal of assur- 
ance, that he would call the roll of his slaves in the shadow of Bunker 
Hill. I have the pleasure of introducing to you, Hon. Geo. Washixg- 
TON" WAERE:sr, President of the Bunker Hill Monument Association, 
who will conduct you to that spot. 

Dr. KiEK, of Massachusetts. Mr. Toombs is not there, — is he? 

Mr. Miles. I will say, that the president of the association and my- 
self reside near that locality, and we are not aware that that promise 
has been fulfilled. TTe presume that it has not; and such are the cir- 
cumstances of the country to-day, that we have good reason to believe it 
never will be fulfilled. Men very often promise what they do not per- 
form. 

Dr. Bacox, of Connecticut. I trust we shall not adjourn here, but 
proceed from this place to Bunker Hill, and make our adjournment there. 

Rev. Dr. Kiek, of Massachusetts. With the doxology. 

Hon. G. W. Warren then addressed the Council, as fol- 
lows : — 

Mr. Iloderator and Gentlemen of the Congregational Council: — I am 
happy to do my humble part in welcoming so honored a body to these 
interesting scenes. You are here assembled, as you have been told, in 
the house of worship of the first chlirch of Massachusetts Bay, — here, 
where Winthrop and his associates first gathered their flock together, 
and from whence they afterward went to constitute the first church of 
Boston. Prom this place, too, and about forty years thereafter, was 
formed the Old South Church, in Boston, in whose temple your conven- 
tion was organized. Here was the scene of tiial, where sickness and 
sufiering, for many a long and dreary day, thinned the number of those 
devoted pilgrims who first lauded and formed a settlement upon the 
13 



194 MEEXmG AT CHARLESTOWN. 

banks of the Charles. This hill, and the fields below, were strewed 
with the graves of our forefathers. They brought here the two grand 
principles which have molded us into a gi^eat and flourishing country: 
the principle of the separation of Church and State, and the principle of 
Congregationalism, — of the independence of each individual church 
and society. These were the principles which they maintained and 
these principles were the foundation of our republic. "Ific, hic, cun- 
ahula gentis." [Applause.] You do well to go from here in a i)ody, 
without adjournment, to that other mount of sacrifice, which, no less 
than this hill, and in the same spirit of devotion, has made Charles- 
town immortal. There you will behold the monument erected by the 
children of those men of the Revolution who staked their lives and their 
honor for the doctrines of the Declaration of American Independence, 
which that battle ushered in. You will see, sir, in that monument, not 
an Egyptian obelisk, — not a monolith, hewn out of the solid rock, by 
the labor of an oppressed people; but you will observe many massive 
stones, welded together into one graceful shaft, reminding you of the 
"^ Plurihus TJnum^^^ and of that conglomerated body which we love to 
call the people of the United States of America. [Loud applause.] 
That monument was erected by the voluntary efforts and subscriptions 
of the people from every part of the United States. Every one of those 
here present has an interest in it; and I am glad that the East and the 
"West are come together to-day, to join in heartfelt and devout recogni- 
tion of the services rendered by our fathers on that spot, and also of the 
heroic services rendered by our sons in defence of the principles there 
first maintained. [Applause.] I trust you will not complain of the 
heat of this day in that visit. It was, sir, about this hour, and, as history 
informs us, on the hottest day of the season, that the Battle of Bunker 
Hill was fought. And, more than all, it was on Saturday, — this very 
day of the week, — and ninety years ago to-day, that that memorable 
action took place. [Applause.] It will give me great pleasure to con- 
duct you to Bunker Hill, from the top of which you will observe a beau- 
tiful panorama, exhibiting the growing prosperity of the metroj)olis and 
its environs, and many of our national flags waving in the skies, on this 
day of triumph, vying with the many spires built by a church-going 
people, in grateful recognition of their dependence upon Heaven for its 
continued blessing upon our common country. 

Rev. Dr. Thompsok, of New York. In the name of the Council, I 
cordially accept this courteous invitation, and thank you, sir, for the 
privilege of enjoying such heroic and memorable associations. Indeed, 
it is a special felicity that this service, which was contemplated six 
months ago, in our preliminary conference, " in special acknowledgment 
of the marvelous and merciful dealings of Almighty God with us as a 
nation, in connection with the war," should have brought us to-day into 
harmony with your commemorative anniversary, on this historic ground. 
We are thus carried back through all the period of the ninety years since 
that 17th of June when our national independence was virtually pro- 
claimed upon this hill. Indeed, sir, in these past four years, we have 




MEETING AT CHARLESTOWN. 195 

been living througli all those ninety years, and not only so, — there have 
been moments in which we have seemed to live through all the cen- 
turies that are gone, — to live over again in our own experience all that 
was great and heroic and memorable in the past, — and to see all that 
was grand and merciful in the illustrative providence of God repeated 
before our eyes. But especially have we felt ourselves linked with the 
heroic men who here fought and died for liberty. We have felt their 
blood tingling through our veins and kindling our hearts in this new 
conflict for the life of the nation and for the rights of man. We will go 
with you gladly, sir. We, who are the sons of Bunker Hill, the rep- 
resentatives of the principles of the original founders of Charlestown, 
the representatives of the principles of the heroic defenders of indepen- 
dence and nationality here, coming up from all this broad land, — we will 
go with you gladly to visit that spot where they made the first stand for 
that independence which God has honored and maintained, not only 
against foreign foes, but against the severer trial of internal rebellion. 
And as we go, there will go with us another and a mightier host, — that 
invisible host of their followers, who, like them, not counting their own 
lives dear unto themselves, were willing to give up all for the life of the 
nation, that God has given us again through them. We go with that 
invisible host to gather around that silent finger-post of the heroic past, 
which ever points upward to the God of our fathers, — the God of their 
children and their children's child^-en, from generation to generation. 
[Applause.] 

The Council then formed in procession, and, escorted by the 
President of the Monument Association, marched to Bunker 
Hill, where Mr. Warren gave an interesting account of the 
events of the ever-memorable 17th of June, 1775, and pointed 
out the various localities to which special interest is attached 
from their connection with the great battle of that day. At 
the close of this explanation, the moderator said : — 

Brethren of the Council, — We are honored with an invitation from 
Admiral Stringham, who has done good service to the country in its 
time of peril, to visit the Kavy Yard. It has been suggested, however, 
that it would be better for us to bring our session, as a Council, to a close 
on this spot; and with renewed thanks to our kind friend. Judge Warren, 
for the instructive and interesting explanation he has given us of its 
memorable scenes, and following out the suggestion made in the church, 
I would request you to unite in singing the first stanza of the familiar 
hymn, " My country, 't is of thee," &c., and we will close with the Dox- 
ology, in long meter. 

At the conclusion of the singing, it was, on motion of Dea. 
Stoddard, of Massachusetts, — 



196 FIFTH DAY. 

Voted, That the Council adjourn to meet in the Mount Yernon Church, 
Boston, on Monday morning, at nine o'clock. 

Eev. Dr. Hopkins, of Massachusetts, then pronounced the 
benediction. 

riETH DAY, MOKDAY, JUKE 19. 

In the absence of the moderator, the meeting was called to 
order by Hon. C. G. Hammond, first assistant moderator, and 
was opened with prayer by Rev. Dr. Thompson, of New York. 

The journal of yesterday was read by the scribe, and ap- 
proved. 

Rev. Dr. Thompson, of New York, resigned his place upon 
the committee on Evangelization in the West and South, and 
his resignation was accepted. 

Rev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio, in behalf of the Business Commit- 
tee, reported the order of business for the day. The report was 
adopted. 

Also, the following resolution : — 

Resolved, That the committee to whom was referred the Declaration of 
Faith be instructed to report to the Council one or more samples of a 
creed for the use of churches for doctrinal and not for controversial pur- 
poses, embodying as far as may be, in the language of the Scriptures, 
the leading doctrines thereof as held by all Congregational churches. 

On motion, the resolution was laid upon the table. 

Rev. Mr. Marvin, of Massachusetts, moved that the order in 
reference to filling vacancies in the Council be taken from the 
table. 

The motion was not agreed to. 

Rev. Dr. Palmer, of New York, resumed and concluded the 
reading of the report on Ministerial Education, contained in 
yesterday's proceedings. Referred under the rule. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Todd, of Massachusetts, 

Resolved, That the Council render thanks to Eev. Dr. Sturtevant for 
the sermon preached at the opening of the Convention, and request a 
copy for pubhcation. 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Langworthy, on behalf of the com- 
mittee on nominations. Rev. George Darling, of Ohio, was 
added to the committee on the roll. 



CHURCH BXnLDING. 197 

CHUECH BUILDma. 

Rev. J. E. Roy, of Illinois, read the following paper, which 
was then referred under the rule : — 

The first instance in this country of aid in building a meeting-house 
was that when the Pilgrim Church made its first contribution for any 
object outside of its own wants to assist the Second Congregational 
Church of America in erecting its house of worship. The example thus 
set has been followed in many individual cases since. But the enter- 
prise, as a systematic policy, was inaugurated in 1852, by the Albany 
Convention. When, in that assembly, the brethren of the East per- 
ceived the grace that was given unto the churches of the West in the 
inheritance of the Faith and Order of the Apostles and Puritans, they 
gave iinto them the right hands of fellowship ; and, as a token of afiec- 
tion, animated by the magnificent profier of the mover of the project, 
they resolved to put into those right hands the sum of fifty thousand dol- 
lars to aid those churches in the erection of sanctuaries. Upon the same 
Sabbath day, under an impulse of love, as when of old th6 people brought 
more than enough for the service of the sanctuary, this ofiering of sym- 
pathy produced an overplus of eleven thousand eight hundred and 
ninety-one dollars. That fund aided two hundred and thirty missionary 
churches in building houses of worship. 

So, blessed were the results of that ministration of charity, and so 
great was the pressure for additional aid of this kind, that a second 
offering was called for on Forefathers' Day in 1856. It was a pious 
effort to build . a monument in memory of the Pilgrims, not in a single 
pile of elaborate architecture, but in sanctuaries that should perpetuate 
their spirit and their principles. This effort resulted in a collection of about 
ten thousand dollars, by which about forty feeble churches were helped to 
homes. Comdction was now confirmed of the need of some organic 
method in this business. Whereupon the Congregational Union, accord- 
ing to a provision in its constitution, to wit, — " to promote plans of co- 
operation in building meeting-houses and parsonages," — assumed super- 
intendence of the work, under the care of its board of trustees and of 
its secretary, who has prosecuted this enterprise with such wisdom, tact, 
and zeal as entitle him to the grateful confidence of the supporters of 
that institution and to the affectionate esteem of its hundreds of bene- 
ficiary churches. Under these auspices, during the eight years past, — 
and those the years of our financial revulsion and of our all-engrossing 
war, — the " Union," while meeting the diflQculties and the prejudices 
incident to its newness, has raised the sum of sixty-five thousand four 
hundred and seven dollars, and has aided therewith in building one hun- 
dred and fifty-seven churches, an average of twenty per year, while the 
" Union " is now pledged to thirty-two more, for which the money is in 
hand. Thus that which was originated in an impulse of fellowship has 
been transferred into an institution ; the waters flowing from the smitten 
rock are still following our Christian Israel. 



198 CHURCH BUILDING. 

In the aggregate, four hundred and twenty-seven meeting-houses have 
been built, — an average of thirty-five per year, — at an expense of one 
hundred and forty-nine thousand two hundred and ninety-eight dollars. 
But these sums total convey no adequate conception of the extent of 
good accomphshed. To arrive at this, even approximately, we must 
gain an estimate from each church so aided, — its necessities met, its 
hopes inspired, its influence and usefulness extended. Some of these 
results may be generalized, as follows: — 

I. This enterprise has secured the erection of many houses of worship 
which would not otherwise have been built. It is astonishing how much 
of stimulus is famished by that sure amount of cash. It often starts the 
work. Frequently the hope of aid is the first thing presented to inspire 
courage to rise up and build. It furnishes the money for the necessary 
articles of purchase, while much of the material and labor are subscribed 
in kind. It sustains during the tedious progress of the work; it stimu- 
lates to the last grand effort of hojDC against hope to cover the final gap 
between present possibility, already twice or thrice exhausted, and the 
condition of freedom from debt. It often saves a church that would oth- 
erwise die out. At Lincoln, the county seat of Logan county, Illinois, a 
town of three thousand five hundred population, and named for our late 
beloved president, a Congregational chm'ch had lived four years in a 
small and unpleasant hall. Making no progress, the brethren began to 
be discouraged and to talk of disbanding. " jSTo," said the missionary, 
^'' we must build.'''' " Impossible," said they. Meeting called; dishearten- 
ment complete. The " Union " proffers five hundred dollars. Hope is 
rallied. The house is built at a cost of two thousand dollars. Since 
the dedication, one year ago, the membership and the congregation have 
been doubled, and the Sabbath school trebled. A revival has brought in 
twenty hopeful converts. And the pastor writes me : " We owe our con- 
tinued existence and prosperity to-day to the encouragement the Con- 
gregational Union gave us in our hour of need." This is but a specimen, 
and no uncommon case. Of the twelve Congregational meeting-houses 
built in ISTorthern Illinois during the last fifteen months, all of which but 
one had aid from the " Union," eight were incited to build by the proffered 
help ; — the remainder could not have built alone without incurring the 
incubus of debt. The agent of the American Home Missionary Society 
for Minnesota, says : " I can think of thirteen churches, which now have 
houses of worship, that in the first instance were undoubtedly stimulated 
to build by the proffer of aid. Without it, building in each case would 
have been delaj^ed longer than it was, and in several cases it would not 
have been accomplished at all." The agent for Kansas says: "But for 
such help, nine of these sixteen churches, built vdth aid from the Union, 
would now be incomplete, jDrobably not begim; four would have been 
put off" for months, perhaps for years; and but three at the utmost would 
have been built without aid." And these sixteen are all the Congrega- 
tional meeting-houses there are in that martyr State. The agent for 
2!^orth-western Wisconsin says : " I am sure the prosiDerity, if not the 
continued existence, of several of our more useful churches is largely 



CHURCH BUILDING. 199 

due to the fact that houses of worship were secured soon after their 
organization; while several churches within my field, in villages of con- 
siderable importance, are now threatened with extinction because they 
are not provided with places of worship wholly their own." From 
many years of observation, and after consultation with other persons 
well informed upon these matters, I am confident that of the four hun- 
di'ed and twenty-seven churches aided, one half would now be without 
houses of worship, and one quarter would yet be burdened with debt or 
with unfinished enterprises, had it not been for such assistance. 

II. Church building has been an efficient auxiliary of Home Missions. 
The Home Missionary Societies and the Congregational Union have to 
deal with the same churches, the young and the feeble. One is the Com- 
missary department; the other, the Quartermaster's. All that can be 
said of the influence of the sanctuary any where may be said of the 
missionary church, while to it are thereby secured peculiar advantages. 
In the East, churches could get along better without houses than at the 
West. Here the people are assimilated; there they are heterogeneous, 
and society lacks the attraction of cohesion. This want the church 
edifice largely helps to meet. In the rude community it becomes a visi- 
ble representative of the gospel. It is a garner of generated religious 
influences. So important to the children of Israel during their period 
of training was the sanctuary, that, through divine wisdom, they were 
furnished with the traveling tabernacle. Many persons going West 
make it an excuse for absenting themselves from the temporary places 
of worship because there is no church edifice. When a house has been 
secured, such in large numbers have been brought under the influence 
of the gospel. A meeting-house ordinarily doubles the congregation, 
the pecuniary resources, and the power of the missionary church. It 
lessens the amount of aid needed; it cuts short the period of dependence; 
and often, at once, lifts it into self-supiDort. Three such churches in Illi- 
nois, aided by the " Union " in building, have just dedicated their houses 
of worship, the slips of which were at once rented for an amount to 
cover increased salaries and incidental expenses, — thus reheving the 
treasury of home missions, while the excess over the former income 
came mainly from those who had been non-supporters. We find that in 
Illinois thirteen missionary churches, thus helped to sanctuaries, soon 
after dedication, became self-supporting; in Wisconsin, twelve: in Michi- 
gan, /ye; in Minnesota, three; in jSTorthern Iowa, /our; in Kansas, three. 
The secretary of the " Union " reports that to five churches the sum of 
one thousand five hundred and fifty dollars was appropriated to pay 
"last bills" on houses of worship, and that each of these at once became 
a self suiDportiug and a giving church; thus saving to the treasury of 
home missions the annual appropriation of one thousand seven hundred 
dollars for the support of preaching there. A pastor, now in the East, 
formerly in the West, wiites to the same secretary: "I consider your 
cause as one of the most important^ as it increases immensely the efficiency 
of the home missionary enterprise." In the June number of the Home 
Missionary^ a minister in Iowa, reiDorting the dedication of a house of 



200 CHURCH BUILDING. 

worship after three years of tugging and lifting, and referring to the 
three hundred dollars secured from the "Union," calls it "the truest 
helper to the home missionary that could possibly be invented." The 
actuaries of the American Home Missionary Society, whose function it 
is, on their respective fields, to explore destitutions, to organize and to 
nurse the young and feeble churches, who are brought into pastoral sym- 
pathy with the weakest flocks, and under whose eye all applications for 
aid in church building pass, are unanimous and enthusiastic in their 
appreciation of this enterprise as the right-hand helper of home missions. 
Their last resort, sometimes, in efforts to save a church, is to propose to 
build, while the first incentive they use is the prospect of aid. They un- 
derstand that by thus securing church edifices they are doing the most 
efficient home missionary work, knowing that in many such cases not to 
build is to die. The secretary of the Old School Presbyterian Board of 
Church Extension, writes: " We find that the completion of a sanctuary, 
free from debt, almost uniformly adds largely to the congregation, at 
least, on an average, doubles it; that revivals of religion are very fre- 
quent in such churches ; that ministerial support is largely increased, and 
the period of self-sustentation greatly hastened, by securing an unincum- 
bered church." 

III. The church-building enterprise has proved itself one of true econ- 
omy in benevolence. Its economy in saving the funds of home missions 
we have already noticed. Then by its appropriations usually seven times 
as much is developed by the applicant churches. It was found that the 
sixty-one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one dollars of the first fund 
stimulated the raising of three hundred and thirty-seven thousand seven 
hundred and four dollars. At the same average, the aid granted to the 
four hundred and twenty-seven churches in all must have called forth 
six hundred and twenty-six thousand eight hundred and sixty-three dol- 
lars from the beneficiaries. Then, again, this method has saved much 
over the old mode of self-appointed agencies for particular churches. It 
was truly said, in the Albany Convention, that such agents ordinarily 
received but little more than enough to pay their salaries and traveling 
expenses. The present plan obviates that waste. It saves the annoy- 
ance of such random calls. It saves pastors the trouble of investigating 
each case. It secures, by the agents and committees on the ground, a 
more rigid scrutiny into the merits of each application, and so saves un- 
worthy appropriations. And then, as managed by a Central Board of 
Trust, the almoner of a sacred charity, confidence is inspired. The 
economy of this work appears also from the fact that the churches, thus 
helped to homes and so to self-support, become givers. In their state of 
dependence they are trained to systematic contributions by the Ameri- 
can Home Missionary Society and the " Union," — a collection every year 
for these respective causes being the condition on which aid is granted ; 
so that this habit of remembering other feeble churches will be likely to 
abide, and so too will every good cause be made the gainer by the 
increase of the number of giving churches. One church in Chicago, that 
was aided by the fifty thousand dollar fund, gave, the last year, besides 



CHURCH BUILDING. 201 

a generous support of the gospel, one thousand eight hundred and ninety- 
nine dollars to objects of benevolence, and paid five thousand six hun- 
dred and fifty-two dollars on a subscription of thirty thousand dollars 
for its permanent edifice. Of the thirty-two churches that contributed to 
the Congregational Union in the quarter next to the last, seven had been 
aided from the same treasury. The district secretary of the Baptist 
Home Mission Society for Kew England, after a three months' recon- 
noissance at the West, said: " It is my profound conviction that rather 
than sustain two missionaries in two towns for five years, it were much 
better to sustain only one and build for him a good house of worship." 
One, who is acquainted with the Western churches, is greatly surprised, 
in reading over the list of those aided in building, to find how many 
that are now prosperous and generous, were so recently recipients of 
this Christian charity. Only to read in this place the roll-call of the 
churches thus helped out of weakness into strength, would be at once a 
testimony and an argument in favor of the economy of this policy. 

TV. A precious result of aid in building sanctuaries is its influence in 
promoting in them revivals of religion. The entrance upon such a house 
has often been a signal for the manifestation of the Spirit; and such 
seasons of revival following upon the dedication services have not been 
few. At the consecration of the first church aided in Illinois by the 
Albany fund, the incense offered was that of the first love of several 
new-born souls, and this was followed in a few months by a work of 
grace that added some ninety persons to the company of believers. 
Of the six churches aided in Southern Ohio by that same fund, all 
received a baptism of the Spirit soon after dedication. Of those aided 
in Illinois up to the present time, twelve have enjoyed revivals soon after 
entering their new houses of worship ; in Wisconsin, seven ; in Minne- 
sota, Jive ; in Iowa, fifteen. Complete returns would show that very 
many of these new church edifices have become at once places of sph*- 
itual nativity. It is also noticeable that meeting-houses have frequently 
been built immediately after seasons of spiritual refreshing. 

Y. As a result of the church-erection scheme, it has contributed to an 
increased prevalence of the principles and polity of the Puritans. Since 
the Albany Convention, the number of Congregational churches in the 
West, including Ohio, has increased from five hundred and seventy- 
three to one thousand and eighty-four, and their membership from 
twenty-eight thousand two hundred and ninety -nine to fifty-nine thou- 
sand nine hundred and sixty-eight. ' If we make the increase of the last 
year, not yet reported, the same as the year before, then these churches 
will have more than doubled in number and in membership since the 
initiation of this enterprise. Yarious causes have contributed to this 
growth. One was the natural force of this free and simple polity; one 
was the anti-slavery position of these churches ; another was the arous- 
ing, in some degree, of the people of this faith to the duty of dissem- 
inating the wisdom of the ISTew Testament in regard to the church 
constitution; and not the least of these causes was the policy of church 
building. It is more than a coincidence that this era of the increase of 



202 CHURCH BUILDING. 

churches corresponds with the era of systematic aid in erecting meeting- 
houses. Churches that would naturally take on the form of autonomy 
have, by this heli^ in securing their houses, been saved from yielding to 
solicitation to assume an uncongenial polity in order to gain the needed 
aid in building. Not a few churches have been organized in places 
where a house seemed to be a prime necessity, and where the Congrega- 
tional Union by its help has secured the organization of as many 
churches in important positions. Take an instance. At Kokomo, 
Indiana, a thrifty railroad town, a county seat, with a fine academy, 
with a population of two thousand, where was only a Methodist church 
and a Campbellite, each with a feeble administration, another church 
was seen to be needed, — one that should embody the small Calvinistic 
element of four different denominations. And though there was but one 
Congregational family in the i)lace, and though some who proposed to 
come into the organization had never seen a Congregational minister 
before, yet it was found that this mixed material could be most readily 
affihated under the polity of the brotherhood. But a house of worship 
was seen to be a sine qua non^ inasmuch as two other efforts by other 
denominations had miscarried through a failure in church building. 
And so the proffer of aid from the American Home Missionary Society 
was accompanied with an assurance of help for a house. Upon that a 
church of seventeen members was organized, a minister secured, and 
now the sanctuary is drawing towarrd completion, while the membership 
has been doubled, and a rare position of influence and usefulness attained. 
Without such aid, that church, which has just now entertained the Gen- 
eral Association of the State, and whose pastor is a member of this 
Council, would not have been brought into life. 

VI. Our church-building enterprise has imparted a stimulus in the 
same direction to all the other denominations. Taking the idea from the 
Albany Convention, the 'New School Presbyterians, in 1853, raised a 
church-erection fund, which now amounts to one hundred and twenty- 
three thousand eight hundred and forty-six dollars, and has aided two 
hundred and twenty-eight churches. In 1854 the Baptist Home Mission 
Society undertook to raise a fund of one hundred thousand dollars, but 
has as yet secured only thirty-five thousand dollars of it. In 1855, the 
Old School Presbyterians, instead of their committee of the Board of 
Domestic Missions, set up a church-extension board, which calls for 
annual collections, and has thus far aided five hundred and sixty-six 
churches, besides the three hundred and eighty-two assisted by the old 
committee; while their receipts, the last year, have been thirty-eight 
thousand seven hundred and ninety-six dollars and ninety-eight cents, 
and the aggregate of collections for this object has been three hundred 
and twenty thousand nine hundred and ten dollars and ninety-three 
cents. The Methodists have just set up a church-extension board for the 
same purpose. Thus the denomination, nine-tenths of whose charities 
have been given for undenominational purposes, and not a little of that 
to build up another sect, imparts to all the others a stimulus in the idea 
and the plan of church erection. Not a little of the good done by the 



CHURCH BUILDING. 203 

building of these eleven or twelve hundred church edifices in other com- 
munions, is due to the Albany scheme. Such, then, — not to speak of the 
binding of the East and the West together by this enterprise, not to speak 
of its relation to patriotism illustrated by the passage: "He loveth our 
nation and he hath built us a synagogue," — such are some of the precious 
fruits of this undertaking. It has helped hundreds of churches to 
houses; it has been an auxiliary to home missions; it has increased 
economy in benevolence; it has promoted revivals of reUgion; it has 
disseminated Puritan ideas ; it has led other branches of the church into 
a hke work. How vast the amount of good accomplished by the outlay 
of so small an amount as one hundred and forty-nine thousand dollars! 
Such results become in themselves a sufficient argument for the prose- 
cution of this enterprise, if, indeed, there be any thing more to be done 
in that direction. 

What, then, are the present and prospective necessities in this matter? 
" The thing which has been is that which shall be." Eead over the secre- 
tary's successive quarterly reports, and while you will be moved to grate- 
ful emotion in view of the good accomphshed by this agency, you will also 
be oppressed with a sense of the vastness of the work left undone sim- 
ply for want of means. The statement of so many appUcations, ten, 
fifteen, twenty, rejected for the lack of funds, becomes a painful recur- 
rence. ISTor are these the same ever-waiting supiDlicants. Baffled in 
their suit they retire," — some to struggle on with adversity, some to die; 
while others take their place at the suitors' stand, only to be kindly but 
peremptorily dismissed. Says one report: "But there are twenty-six 
churches now urgently pressing their claims for small appropriations, 
with many of which the question is 'to build or to disband;'" and 
another: "Still back of these are scores of others, whose only hope of 
success is to be found in our treasury; " and one of the very latest says: 
" From scores that are waiting and longing for aid we must hold back 
until the givers shall afibrd us the means of aiding them." It certainly 
must be a painful ex|Derience of the gentlemen who serve as the trustees 
and the secretary of this interest, to see these successive bands of 
Christ's disciples, in which are the elements of so much blessing, strug- 
gling for hfe upon the waves of adversity, while they are themselves 
powerless to respond to the cry for help. 

Then we find that there are in Michigan, at the present time, fifty 
Congregational churches that have no houses of worship; in Illinois, 
forty-four; in Wisconsin, ^Mr^-nme; in Minnesota, /or i?/; in Iowa, j^/iC^/- 
eight; in Kansas, sixteen; and many in other States, so that, in all, as 
nearly as we can ascertain, there are four hundred of these famiUes of 
the Puritan sisterhood without homes, aU of which need to be brought 
into the holy habitation. 

Then there is no reason why we may not expect that in the next 
twelve years, as in the last, the churches of this pattern will, at the 
West, double their number, raising it from one thousand and eighty-four 
to two thousand one hundred and sixty-eight, many of which, in embryo 
communities, will need aid in securing that first of all requisites in a 



204 CHURCH BUILDING. 

new country, a place to live in. There will always be, along our ever- 
receding frontier, a cordon of such feeble churches, the outposts of our 
Christian civilization, which will appeal to our sympathy. The opening 
of the Pacific railway; the operation of the homestead law and of sol- 
diers' warrants ; the tremendous stimulus to new settlement afibrded by 
the rich metals in all of the centi'al mountain country ; the flood of for- 
eign emigration; the manufacturing interest, the seat of which is work- 
ing westward, — all these influences will tend to hasten the filling up of 
our intercontinental emjjire, which must be brought into allegiance to 
Christ. The extent of that country yet to be filled with living souls we 
can but little realize. The half-way place on the parallel of New York 
is yet two hundred miles beyond the Missouri, seven hundred beyond 
Chicago, the gateway of the ISTorth-west, seventeen hundred west of Bos- 
ton! The Territories upon the Kocky Mountains are already coming to 
their majority, and asking of the paternal authority their portion of 
goods. Unborn commonwealths are yet to come from that region to 
knock at the door of our national capitol for recognition. The extent of 
territory in those oncoming States staggers comprehension. And yet 
into that region of vast distances and possibilities, the enterprise of 
home missions is rapidly projecting itself, following in the path of the 
pioneer, the miner, the soldier. The Path-Finder threw out our glorious 
stars and stripes from the loftiest peak of those Kocky Mountains; and 
so the home missionary has unfurled the banner of Jesus upon the same 
Alpine range; even into the region and shadow of death has he borne it, 
setting up the claim of his King upon the adherents of that system of 
abomination which now occupies the heart of the continent. All over 
that region churches of the pilgrim faith will be born, and they must 
have homes. Their Eedeemer is already there, " waiting to find room." 
And " as the mother of Jesus looked up wistfully to the guest-chamber 
that cold night, drawing her Holy Thing to her bosom," so will these 
new-born churches of Christ look longingly to our spacious and amply- 
furnished sanctuaries for hospitality and blessing. 

Then, in the older portions of the missionary field, away from the 
original centers of population, away from the railway stations, in the 
isolated townships of well-to-do farmers, there is yet a vast work to be 
done. Many new churches are there to be organized ; many new houses 
of worship to be built. If we are to profit by the exiDcrience of l^ew 
England, and by its awakened interest in home evangelization, we must 
forestall the "waste places." Of this kind of work take an example: 
A banker in Michigan City, Indiana, goes out seven miles to a neglected 
neighborhood, cursed with a distillery, and starts a Sabbath school. A 
revival ensues. The distillery is turned into a flouring mill. A church 
is organized, and the superintendent becomes the lay-preacher. The old 
school-house is enlarged; a new one is built, and this is outgrown by the 
congregation and the aspiration of the brotherhood. A church must be 
built. People poor; prospect poorer. The "Union" proffers aid. A 
neat and commodious sanctuary is secured; and, through the "Union," 
a young man in the First Church of New Haven, Merritt W. 



CHURCH BUILDING. 



205 



Barnes, as a dying gift appropriates three hundred dollars, his little all, 
to pay the last bills, — a legacy of love commemorated by a tablet set 
into the Tvall of that house of God. Last summer, during the vacation 
of the Chicago Seminary, one of the students, under commission of the 
American Home Missionary Society, relieved the lay pastor, and in the 
new house was permitted to welcome nine persons into that fellowship 
as the result of a spiritual Refreshing in harvest time. 

Then who can compute the demand for aid in church erection at the 
South? The angel of the Lord is now saying to the Philip of our evan- 
gelism : " Go toward the South .... which is desert." If we had come 
across this newly-discovered missionary field in any other part of the 
globe, it would thrill the heart of Christians to occupy it at once. Though 
their treason, in seeking the life of our nation, has slain our sons and 
brothers, and now our beloved President, yet thither we are bidden to 
go with the gospel, even as the disciples were directed by their Lord to 
begin at Jerusalem, the very city which had rejected and crucified him, 
and even as Philip was to carry the Evangel of Jesus to that same 
Phihstia which had been the perpetual enemy of Israel. We are like- 
wise under special obligation to propagate there that system of church- 
order, which, divinely appointed, like Christianity itself, is adapted to 
man as man in all parts of the earth, — which by its simple form and 
catholic spirit is well fitted to unite and assimflate that disorganized 
material which, by its aflSnity for freedom and its cleaner record, is suited 
to that recoil going on at the South in intelligent and conscientious minds, 
and which, in its reproduced style of Paritanism, though long rqjected 
there, will be the most hopeful means of rescuing that fair land from its 
moral desolation. 

Xow, then, the churches which, among both the whites and the blacks,* 
are there to spring up as by magic, must be housed. In that disrupted 
society a chaste, comfortable church edifice will be a powerful attraction. 
Said Dr. Lyman Beecher, in the Albany Convention: "If you want 
martins about your house you must put up a martin-box." In the South 
there will be special need of using the economy of church erection in 
order to take up this great work at its flood tide. Not as heretofore in 
the gradualness of the opening of the Home Missionary field, now whole 
States, to the number of one third of our Federal Union, already jDopu- 
lated and seething with the antagonistic influence of irreligion, are thrown 
upon our hands, and God says, take these, reform them. Christianize 
them. In order to meet this exigency, we shall need all the attracting, 
sustaining influence of sanctuaries. When our soldiers went first into 
the service, in the abandon of heroism, they cared little for entrench- 
ments ; but, wiser by experience, they will now work cheerfully at every 
halt upon some simple breastwork. The soldiers of Christ going South, 
in order to save all their gain and to make irresistible their advance, 
must have their series of fortifications. N'eglecting this, though they 
may gain important strategetic points, their safety and success will be in 
jeopardy. At Hannibal, Mo., the " Union " has fortified one such posi- 
tion, which has stood through the rebellion a rallying center for loyalty, 



206 CHURCH BUILDING. 

has sent a stream of influence along the line of railway that crosses the 
State, and now with its membership of one hundred, its home Sabbath 
school of three hundred and thirty pupils, its mission school of one hun- 
dred and fifty, and its school of four hundred colored people, is accom- 
plishing in that city a vast deal of work for Christ. Already applications 
are coming in from the South for more of such defenses. 

Such being the demand for church building at the "West and at the 
South, how grave must be the consequences of neglecting it! Imagine 
this work of the last twelve years undone, a large proportion of these 
four hundred and twenty-seven missionary churches left without sanc- 
tuaries, and some of them dead. What apology could satisfy the Head 
of the Church for such dereliction? Then imagine the four hundred 
families in our Christian sisterhood, yet without homes, deprived of all 
prosi^ect of aid from this source in the future, many of them doomed to 
a protracted feebleness, which shall deaden hope and finally life itself. 
Then consider the hundreds of churches yet to spring up, many of which, 
if not planted in the house of the Lord, will droop and bear but little 
fruit. In the failure to provide these garners, vast harvests will go into 
the earth. 

Then, as a consequence of neglecting this work, many of these Puritan 
flocks will be driven into folds not congenial. It would be a shame that 
the body of churches, which led the way in this scheme of benevolence, 
should fall behind in the enterprise, and actually turn its own people 
over to those of other faith and order for hospitality. It would be worse 
than a shame, — it would be a crime ; for " If any provide not for his own, 
and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is 
worse than an infidel." These which, by lineal descent or by adoption, 
are the children of the Puritan family, have a right, by all principles of 
equity and of grace, to look to the parent for nurture and for protection. 
The two denominations which have learned to do this work the most 
eflaciently are those that would make the most of a draft upon the Con- 
gregational material. We honor those branches of Christ's people; we 
wish them all success in bringing their feeble churches into the sanctuary. 
But we think that we have a more excellent way; that the people of the 
Puritan faith can do the most good under the forms of their own simple 
polity, and that the Congregational swarms will do the best in Congrega- 
tional hives. We believe that, as a miracle was wrought to convince the 
apostles that the gospel was to go beyond their own nationality, so now 
God, by the marvelous revelations of war, is teaching us that the same 
gospel is to be carried in the same church order to all parts of our land, 
and that the crossing of no parallels of latitude or of longitude can justify 
an exchange of that system for any man-made establishment. And it 
will be neither with self-satisfaction nor with approval, hiunan or divine, 
that we come to the confession, " They made me the keeper of the vine- 
yards, but mine own vineyard have I not kept." 

It is a favor of Providence that we have in the Congregational Union 
an organ of this enterprise, well-manned, skilled by experience, settled 
in its pohcies, and so, prepared for the crisis. Though its work is ger- 



CHURCH BUILDING. 207 

mane to that of the Home Missionary Societies, yet a wise division of 
the labor, which has an appalling magnitude, the certainty of raising 
more funds by a double appeal, and the mutual helpfulness of the two 
departments, will make it wise to continue the present arrangement. All 
the other denominations but one give to this cause a separate organ, and 
one of these changed to a double acting machinery after having tried the 
single. The established principle of annual collections has, over an 
invested fund, the advantage of keeping the cause fresh in the thought 
and sympathy of the churches, and of avoiding the risks of an accumu- 
lated capital, while, under the present demands upon benevolence, the 
raising of any competent endowment would seem to be out of the ques- 
tion. As to the amount that will be needed for church building, year 
by year, it will not do to put the estimate at any thing less than fifty 
thousand dollars. 

But how can the treasury be kept in a condition equal to this draft? 
"We believe that all that will be needed will be to affotd every congrega- 
tion in our fellowship the opportunity of making an annual offering to 
this cause, and that, in order to this, every church place this object upon 
its calendar. During the last reported year, only one hundred and fifty- 
five, or one in eighteen, of the Congregational chm'ches contributed to this 
object. The secret of the success of the Old School Presbyterian Church 
Extension Board seems to have been in getting collections from a large 
number of churches. During the last year, seven hundred and fifty-one 
church-contributions were acknowledged; and these, if we leave out the 
gifts of two congregations in Xew York City, averaged only seventeen 
dollars and sixty-seven cents, while four hundred and nine of the churches 
gav-e but ten dollars and under. If but one half of the Congregational 
churches would simply " go through with the motions " of a collection 
for this cause, the treasmy would not labor. But if, as one of the latest 
applicants, the Congregational Union can scarcely find room in the 
calendar, then it may be well for this Council to advise the churches to 
make a x^lace for this feeder of all the other charities. In the plans recom- 
mended by the General Associations of Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and 
"Wisconsin, this cause has its specific month; the system is growing in 
favor, and this object meets with a peculiar appreciation. Indeed, it 
Bhould be said for the encouragement of Eastern friends, who have given 
so freely to the West, that the seed thus sown is now coming to the 
harvest. A generous spirit is growing up in those Western chm'ches, 
which will join the East in liberal gi^"ing for the K'ew "West and the 
South. That stream of Kew England theology and of Puritan ideas, 
which has been poured across the West, has given character to its insti- 
tutions, and has thus magnified its power for good, as now the swelling 
current shall sweep down to the Gulf. And if the parental household, 
by the exhausting of itself for the welfare of its emigrating offspring, 
shall ever come to the need of succor, then with grateful, loving attention 
will the children, natural and adopted, delight to reciprocate the blessing. 

But still, in order to the filhng of this treasury, in common with those 
of all other benevolence, — in order to our rising to the sublimity of this 



208 



COMMITTEES. 



providential occasion, — we need a national dispensation of the Spirit that 
shall lead to a consecration of property and of life wholly unto the Lord. 

Half an hour was spent in devotional exercises, Rev, Mr. 
Turner, of Iowa, Rev. Mr. Clark, of Illinois, and others leading 
in prayer. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Wolcott, it was 

Voted, That this body, having learned that His Excellency Governor 
Andrew, of Massachusetts, is in tte city, and would take pleasure in 
paying his respects to this Council, and can not do so conveniently after 
to-day, will be pleased to receive him at 3 p. M. 

Rev. John L. Jenkins, of Indiana, was added to the commit- 
tee on the Roll. 

Rev. Mr. Langworthy, on behalf of the committee on Nomi- 
nations, reported the following committees. The reports were 
severally agreed to. 

0]Sr COLLEGES AND THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION. 

Eev. Mark Hopkins, D. D., of Massachusetts; Hon. William W. 
Thomas, of Maine; Rev. Henry E. Parker, of New Hamx^shire; Rev. 
Silas McKeen, d. d., of Vermont; Rev. Thomas P. Eield, d. d., of Con- 
necticut; Rev, Thomas Wickes, D. D., of Ohio; Rev. Adam S. Kedzie, 
of Michigan; Rev. William Deloss Love, of Wisconsin; Rev. Elisha Jen- 
ney, of Illinois; Wilham H. Watson, of Kansas; Jacob Bacon, Esq., of 
California. 

ON AMERICAN PROTESTANT ASSEMBLY. 

Rev. Jeremiah Taylor, d. d., of Connecticut; Rev. Edwin B. Webb, 
of Massachusetts; Rev. Moses H. Wilder, of New York; Rev. Abel K. 
Packard, of Minnesota; Rev. Philo C. Pettibone, of Wisconsin. 



ON CHURCH BIHLDING. 

Rev. Samuel G-. Buckingham, of Massachusetts; Dea^ Henry P. 
Haven, of Connecticut; Rev, Franklin B. Doe, of Wisconsin; Dea. Philo 
Carpenter, of Illinois; Rev. Isaac Jennings, of Vermont; Rev. Joshua 
M. Chamberlain, of Iowa; Rev. Edwin Johnson, of Maryland. 

ON TEMPERANCE. 

Rev. Constantine Blodgett, d. d., of Rhode Island; Rev. Zedekiah S. 
Barstow, D. D., of New Hampshire; Charles A. Stackpole, of Maine; 
Dea. William Thurston, of Massachusetts; Dea. Lorenzo D. Dana, of ISTew 
York; Dea. Abram Griswold, of Ohio; Rev. Joseph Collie, of Wisconsin. 



PAROCHIAL EVA^sGELIZATIOX. 209 



O^ PAEOCHIAL EYAI^GELIZATIOK. 

The committee appointed to introduce to the National Council of 
Congregational Churches the subject of parochial evangelization, report 
the followino; 



STATEMENT. 

The work of our chui'ches divides itself into several departments. 
Efibrts in behalf of other nations we call foreign missions ; the founding 
of new churches and the assistance of such as are feeble, within the limits 
of our own country, we name home missions; while all chm-ches exist 
for a particular work, styled, in the resolution appointing this committee, 
parochial evangelization^ — a work which looks toward the reconciliation 
and sanctification of all the souls embraced within the communities that 
severally constitute the proper parishes of the churches, and which aims 
at a general and complete popular Chiistianization. 

The object of the present paper is, to bring clearly to mind this glorious 
duty and privilege of the churches, with some of the ways of its fulfill- 
ment. To this end it is necessary briefly to recall the true idea and office 
of the church, and to consider, somewhat more at length, the modes in 
which its estabhshed services and its administration may be most effi- 
cient. 

THE CHUUCH TJNIVEESAL. 

It is the chief end of man to glorify God, and share his joy; and of 
the world, to be a place of nurture for souls thus fulfilling their end. 
The church on earth embraces all who have begun to glorify and enjoy 
' God, and so is the essential realization of the end of creation; but, being the 
" body of Chiist," wherein he dwells and whereby he works, it is also 
the means of its realization. The conquest of the world is its proper 
function; and it is no more really the natural quality of salt to save from 
corrux)tion, or of light to annihilate darkness, of leaven to leaven the lump, 
or of a living seed to assimilate earth, air, water, and light, into its own 
body, according to its own law, than for the spirit of Christ, working in 
and through the church, to cleanse fi'om moral corruption, disperse moral 
darkness, fill society with a divine leaven, and incorporate with its own 
body, and build up in heavenly beauty the alienated and lost souls that 
surround it. God ordained the churches for this end, and they must be 
esteemed equal to its accomplishment. In entering upon the considera- 
tion of our subject, we properly start with this assumption. 

OEGAis'IC CHTJECHES. 

But, obviously, in order that our organic churches, which are, at best, 
but an imperfect realization of their idea, may justify such an expecta- 
tion, they must be really churches^ and must be nothing else. 

To this end, it is necessary, first, that they should be composed of be- 
14 



210 PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 

lievers, — of those who have begun to love with Christ's love; a love in 
which they are holy and a brotherhood. 

Furthermore, every church must needs embody its essential idea in its 
organization, and be a brotherhood in form as well as in spirit, — avoid- 
ing all semblance of such authority and subjection as are common in the 
world. 1^0 " greatest," and no " master," can be recognized here. As 
believers, we have one Master, and he is above: all we are brethren. 
The apostle disclaimed dominion, and aspired only to be a helper of joy 
to his fellow-disciples ; and our blessed Lord specifically instructed his 
followers, with regard to the spirit and law of his church, when he washed 
their feet. 

The structure of a society embodies ideas and fixes relations; and 
these ideas it is always teaching, and these relations are always shaping 
character and action. The church needs to have the true church form — 
of a brotherhood — or its organization will be subtly, or perhaps very 
openly, counterworking its work. Its very organization should be the 
birth of a love which annihilates caste and sense of hierarchy. 

When churches have thus been organized of the right material, and in 
the right form, they need to be careful, thirdly, to confine themselves to 
their true end. 

The one end of the church universal is the glory of God in human re- 
demj^tion ; and the local church finds its one chief end in the same result, 
throughout the community which makes up its proper jDarish, — in other 
words, " parochial evangelization." It may not allow itself to be turned 
to any other object; nor can it safely unite with other churches as a con- 
stituent in societies, either secular or semi-secular, whose operations in- 
volve large material interests or weighty financial cares. One thing it 
has to do; and that is so immense and diflicult, that it cannot give itself 
to anything else. In one precious and eternal bond is it united with all 
other churches of the Lord Jesus Christ; and it may not imperil this most 
sacred of all conceivable relations, so peculiarly delicate and sensitive, 
by grosser mixtures, so often fruitful of strife. It is essential that each 
church both hold fast to its exclusively spiritual end, and to its own sep- 
arate identity and responsibility, maintaining, indeed, the closest possible 
spiritual union with other churches, in love, but refusing all corporate 
and business ties with them, all authority (in the worldly sense) and all 
subjection. This we hold to be essential to the prosecution of a thorough 
and universal parochial evangelization. 

When churches have thus been organized of the right material, in the 
right form, and for the right end, it remains, fourthly, that they adopt the 
right methods for the accomplishment of this end. The end, as already 
stated, is the working out, under God, of human redemption from sin, 
into love, blessedness, and holy service; and the work of the church may 
be viewed in three aspects, — as related directly to God, to believers, and 
to man still in a state of alienation; thus having the three divisions of 
worship, edification, and conversion; and its efiiciency in all these is 
necessary to its success in parochial evangelization. 



PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 211 

THE CHUKCH-WORK. 

WORSHIP. 

The first great duty of the church is worship. This is God's due; aud 
it is essential that every church render a pure and acceptable worship 
before the throne of the Divine Majesty. But inasmuch as God is most 
glorified by that which is so ordered as to be also the greatest blessing 
to his children, its method may appropriately be considered when we 
come to treat of what is essential to Christian edification. 

EDIFICATION. 

The second great object of the church, prominent in its work of paro- 
chial evangelization, is the edification of its members in the divine love. 

By Worship. 

The first means by which it furthers this aim is a worship in which it 
becomes a channel of divine grace to all participants, and offers itself, as 
such, to all witnesses of its act. 

Worship is rendered (1) when the hearts and minds of a devout assem- 
bly are reverently yielded to the guidance of Holy Writ — records of the 
divine dealings, breathings of penitence, prayer, and thanksgiving, and 
the story of redemption — motions of minds moved by the Holy Ghost. 
This is the river which makes glad the city of God. We need to go back 
ever to these flowings of the primal springs. 

There are two ways in which this benefit of Scripture may be enjoyed by 
a worshiping congregation; namely, listening to an expressive reading, 
which re-clothes the sacred words with their original life ; and chanting. 
It is to be regretted that the latter is no more in use among us; as, with 
singing, it is almost the only way in which an assembly can proj^erly 
join in the outward expression of worship through the lips. Our congre- 
gations will probably never satisfactorily realize and appropriate the 
meaning and preciousness of the most ancient songs of the Church until 
they have learned to chant them, and this in more reverent and less 
hurried style than prevails elsewhere. We should not be altogether wide 
from the truth, if we were to say, that it requires the strength of a great 
multitude to bear into our hearts the weight and sense of these words of 
God. Our children ought, from the beginning, to be made to feel the 
grandeur and the gladness, the lowliness and the tenderness, of these 
inspired Psalms. Each church needs them in the evangelization of its 
parish. 

The two methods that have been mentioned are the only seemly and 
proper methods in which congregations can use the Scriptures in the 
public services of the sanctuary. 

(2.) The " service of song " in the Lord's house, it is now generally 
conceded, needs to be chiefly rendered by the whole congregation, led by 
a choir. But our churches have by no means, as yet, entered upon the 
exceeding riches of the inheritance of the saints, contained in this elevat- 



212 PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 

ing, comforting, and transporting service — so full of blessing to devout 
hearts, in its nearness and sweetness of communion with our Lord, and 
80 universally attractive and impressive. There is a mighty power of 
edification and of persuasion in rhythmic, melodious psalms and hymns 
and choral harmonies, which our churches and their schools have only 
begun to reahze. It can unquestionably be made a powerful instrument 
in the evangehzation of communities and of classes that now neglect the 
sanctuary; and, indeed, has already often been of great service in attract- 
ing children to the Sunday school, and their parents to the place of public 
worship. 

(3.) As the mere reading of Scripture, in seemly style, becomes a 
way of worship, so the preaching of the divine word often leads the hearts 
of a congregation, in a contemplation of Grod and a beholding of his 
glory, to thanksgiving, adoration, confession, and yearnings of deepest 
aspiration and longing. If we dare look toward the Christianization of 
whole communities, — and what minister or church dares aim at any thing 
less, — how must we abjure all merely literary, logical, disputatious, de- 
nunciatory, or melodramatic and sentimental preaching, and strive to 
bring our hearers in view of the eternal mountains of God, the mighty 
truths whose foundations and whose summits are equally out of sight! 
In those mountains are peace and joy; they are homes of power; and from 
them flow the living waters. The deepest truth is most divine ; and is 
not merely pleasant, beautiful, and moving, but awful, glorious, trans- 
forming, and transporting. It is our privilege to wield this truth; and, 
for our work, we need it. The people must worship while they hear. 
It were vain to think of the Christianization of communities if we were 
to forget this. 

(4.) In public prayer^ the most perfect union of hearts is probably 
reached when one man of fervent and devout spirit leads the multitude, 
in words, which, with his tones, are the birth of the moment, — the breath- 
ing of the Holy Ghost. But, that this may ordinarily be secured, even 
in moderate measure, it is necessary that the person who leads should 
be habitually in communion with God; and, furthermore, should be 
accustomed to turn his inward communings into words. The usage of 
our churches now lays this demand upon their ministers. It is a whole- 
some burden, and ought by no means to be removed. Having adopted 
the highest possible ideal, we ought to seek to rise to its demand. The 
effort, in our work of parochial evangelization, is to bring all souls into 
communion with God; and the Church maintains these public acts of 
communion, in part, from the hope that the spirit of devotion may spread, 
like leaven, from soul to soul, till all be leavened. But, that the leaven 
may spread, it must be real, and real at the time which is its opportunity. 

By Instruction. 

The second method in which a church promotes the edification of its 
members is by supplying instruction. 

The instruction furnished in the church aims at the reconciliation and 
sanctification of souls, by bringing them face to face with God, in Christ; 



PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 213 

that, beholding his glory, they may be changed into the same image. If 
it exhibit not that glory, it fails of its end. So far as it deals with 
other than eternal realities, and with thoughts lower than the thoughts 
of God, or is satisfied with a beauty inferior to that of Christ, it stoops 
from its state, and abases its sovereignty. It ought to unveil eternity ; 
to unfold the mind of God ; to take divine things, and show them unto 
men; to make plain the ways of a heavenly life here on earth; and to 
breathe something of the dignity native to souls regenerate and sancti- 
fied, — the dignity of a love like Christ's. While considering the methods 
of parochial evangelization, neither the ministry nor the churches may 
forget this. 

In Organization. 

But verbal instruction is not all. As has been already remarked, the 
very structure of the church, when what it should be, is mighty for the 
instruction of its members and of the community at large. But while, in 
its constitution and the general spirit of its administration, it needs to 
express and teach the Christian love, and while in its worship and the 
ministrations of its pulpit it must not fail to edify, it ought to do this, 
thirdly, by furnishing special facilities and opportunities for the development 
among its members of an active love. 

Arrangements should be mad^ by every church for bringing its mem- 
bers together, so that they should become acquainted, and acquainted 
as Christians. For this purpose the weekly prayer-meeting is of priceless 
value. So, too, are the smaller neighborhood prayer-meetings, and all 
social religious gatherings, and indeed all religious social assemblies, — in 
many places too much neglected. In every practicable way the church 
needs continually to strive to bring about among its members the fulfill- 
ment of the Saviour's prayer, that " they all may be one." Upon this 
largely depends the possibility of an extended Christian influence and of 
the development of a system of church-work. The love is indispensable 
to union in labor; and for the awakening and cherishing of love, there 
must be acquaintance and intercourse. Our church members have all 
been welcomed with covenant vows of affection and help, which deserve 
to be better kept; and, to facilitate this, special arrangements are neces- 
sary. 

But not alone in the delight and the impulse of love does the church 
need to build itself up ; it should edify itself also in love's wisdom., — in 
that spiritual wisdom which only comes from living out Christ's precepts. 
These precepts involve the most fundamental and comprehensive prin- 
ciples, which principles must be studied in their application, and not 
simply heard of from a teacher, in order really to possess the soul. Ac- 
cordingly, the church needs to throw upon its members the responsibility 
of decision, in the application of Christian principles, especially of those 
which are fundamental; and any church leader who undertakes to decide 
for his church, or, worse still, to force his judgment upon them, or, worst 
of all, to carry a judgment by intrigue or intimidation, misconceives his 
oflfice. His oflSce is to guide, not to dictate, — least of all to manipulate. 



214 PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 

It is Ms privilege to lead Ms brethren in the study of the mind of the 
Spirit, so that they, all together, shall apprehend it, — not to declare it by 
authority. He is guide, not governor. 'No man can be a master in the 
church. And whoso departs from Christian simplicity, and assumes 
control, or uses " art," grieves the Spirit, sins against the brethren, and 
breaks the constitution of the church. In hke manner, also, any church 
which submits to a dominion that dulls its life transgresses its fundamental 
law. 

It is only by familiarizing men with the practical application of prin- 
ciples that they can be put in possession of them. This the church does 
when organized and administered faithfully after the New Testament 
model. "When organized and governed after any other plan, its efficiency 
is necessarily impaired. 

Again: not only must the responsibility of decision, especially in im- 
portant questions, be thrown upon the members of the church, but for 
their own spiritual good they all need also a share in the responsibilities 
and the manifold benefits of church-work. So essential is tMs privilege, 
that we may even declare it indispensable. But of tMs we shall speak 
more at large under another head. 

In Fellotvship. 

Again: each church needs to stand in suitable relations with other 
churches, — recognizing and feeling its oneness, not only with those of its 
immediate neighborhood and its own time, but with all true churches 
of every age. With its neighbors it should join in counsel and labor; 
and it has no right to allow any bonds of authority to divide it from such 
communion. All should be counted its neighbors with whom it can join, 
or whom it can reach, to bless. JSTor should it lack a sense of unity with 
the churches of other lands, of other days, and other names. Great 
strength comes from a consciousness of the oneness of the Lord's king- 
dom ; and this needs not at all a corporate unity, so sure to work disaster, 
and to defer the accomplishment of our Saviour's prayer, but can best 
exist without it. 

In the Sacraments. 

Finally: each church needs for its edification to cherish most solemnly 
and tenderly a sense of union with the Lord. 

The unity of all true churches of Jesus Christ with one another, and 
of all believers with their Head, is commemorated, figured, ratified, and 
perpetuated, in the sacraments, — those universal signs and seals, wMch, 
shared by all, are a manifestation of their oneness from the beginning, — 
of their oneness with Christ. We can not hold in too dear aftection, or 
celebrate with too loving and careful solemnity, these seasons of grace, 
in which all ages join and all disciples remember their only Lord. 
Churches which propose the Christianization of their parishes need to take 
all possible pains to secure the full blessing of these sacred opportunities. 

Conversion. 

The third great end of the church remains, namely, the bringing into a 
state of reconciliation the souls that are alienated from God. 



PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 215 

"We have, it is presupposed, a church composed of believers, — persons 
who have begun to love with a love like Christ's; organized a brother- 
hood; worshiping God ; instructing and edifying its members in the 
wisdom, the power, and joy, of divine love; entering into sacred bonds 
of communion in the sacraments. 

But the chief labor of Christ's militant church on earth has ever been 
the reconciliation of alienated souls, the saving of the lost, a^ot only do 
our churches find their principal woi^k here, but they can not even be 
faithful toward their own members unless they engage them in efforts 
for the spiritual benefit of those who are still out of personal covenant 
with God. Very properly, therefore, is the inquiry urged home upon 
us: How can a chmxh be faithful and successful in this momentous work? 

Trust in God. 

First of all, it needs to be keenly sensible of the fact, that the work 
of saving and sanctifying souls is the work of God; and that it is only, 
as in union with him, that men are privileged or able to engage in it. 

The Doctrine of the Churclu 

In the next place, it is in a high degree important, that the church 
should understand its own nature and office. Its members need to be so 
well instructed in the doctrine of the churchy that the thought of God's 
kingdom, and of his earthly kingdom and family, should occupy and 
thrill their minds. There are no truths more full of fight and power 
than those which center here. Without them, churches will but imper- 
fectly grasp the idea of what they have to do, and will lack both the 
courage and the faith indispensable to sustained activity and a compre- 
hensive and permanent success. 

Parishes. 

In the third place, it is important that every church should definitely 
recognize and accept its own particular work, — its parish. The very 
form of the statement proposed for this Council's consideration, — the 
subject of ^'■Parochial Evangelization," — seems to assume that this has 
ak-eady been done; and yet how seldom in our day, is it really done! 

But, if a church is to do its work, it must know its work, — know it as 
a church. l!sror can we reflect at all upon this matter, without perceiv- 
ing that when once this work has taken definite form in the mind of the 
church, and has been solemnly acknowledged before God as his commis- 
sion, one important step has been gained. The divine call now sounds 
clear, has been understood, and the church has answered, " Here am I." 

Fm'thermore, so soon as a definite work has thus been recognized, its 
parts begin to be distinguished, — some, joerhaps, very difficult, but 
others more immediately hopeful; and so an oy^der begins to apjDcar; 
and now, no sooner has it been determined where to commence, than 
methods suggest themselves, — a really intelligent beginning can be 
made, a beginning of the whole ; and the motive drawn from the whole 



216 PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 

urges and helps the prosecution of each part; furnishing a great advan- 
tage to every working member, and especially to the pastor, whose duty 
it is to superintend and incite. 

In most rural districts, and in some villages, the natural " parish " of 
the church is so obvious that no question can arise concerning its boun- 
daries; and where two or more churches stand side by side, and draw 
. their congregations from the same communities, the question is still one 
of no difficulty; for here the churches obviously have a, joint parish; and, 
having agreed upon such division of labor as the case demands, may 
each go forward with its own; recognizing, in reference to the whole, a 
joint responsibility, while also owning a distinct care and duty. ]S'or, 
where churches of other denominations are found, does this bring in any 
serious complication. For, acknowledging with joy their work for the 
Lord, we shall find enough for our hearts and hands in caring for our 
own and for neglected families. 

But it may be said that this system of parishes is impossible at the 
"West, where missionaries sometimes have whole counties under their 
charge. On the contrary, it is quite as easily arranged there as else- 
where, and is, perhaps, of greater importance than in Eastern communi- 
ties ; in every case, there is a community that forms the proper parish 
of the church which the missionary makes his principal center. This is 
that church's field; the rest is the minister's out-field., over which he exer- 
cises inspection, and where he temporarily bestows a certain amount of 
labor, in preparation for other laborers who shall enter in and establish 
permanent centers and parishes. It is of the utmost importance that the 
young churches of the West, now in their formative period, be educated 
to the idea of church responsibility for communities. 

The plan suggested may possibly be thought to be impracticable in 
cities. By no means; for it would supply what city churches so greatly 
need, — a definite object and mode of practical union; and, indeed, is 
absolutely necessary to the thorough occupation of their field. A cer- 
tain geographical allotment will, it is believed, be found expedient in all 
our largest towns. 

The Home Prayer-meeting. 

But a church can not be expected permanently to keep in mind a cor- 
porate duty, unless in its corporate capacity it regularly recalls and con- 
siders it. Inevitably, interest will flag, and efibrts will wane, unless the 
church holds regular meetings in behalf of its work. Wherefore it is 
evident, fourthly^ that " the home prayer-meeting " — that is, a meeting 
devoted to prayer and counsel specifically in behalf of the church and its 
parish — is valuable, and perhaps indispensable, as a means of remind- 
ing the church of its duties, besides afibrding occasion for that fervent 
sui)plication which avails much. 

Moreover, since all beginnings are in God, and all human beginnings 
leading to real success must be with God, it would seem impossible for 
any church to make any wiser commencement of new efforts for its par- 
ish than this, of regular prayer in its behalf. Xo church is so strong 



PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 217 

that it can afford to neglect prayer, nor is any so weak that it can not 
pray. If the difficulties that encompass it are so great that it sees no 
way whatsoever in which it can make any beginning of new labor, then, 
surely, it is called to lay the case before God, to study it in his presence, 
and with undoubting faith to await the guidings of his Spirit and provi- 
dence. 

Systematic Labor, 

Fifthly. It is important that a ohurch should prosecute its work upon 
system. It has already been remarked, that, so soon as the church has 
defined its parish, the several distinct parts of its work begin to appear. 
The community is at once resolved into four principal classes, compris- 
ing (1) the members of the church; (2) members of the congregation, 
and regular attendants who are not members of the church; (3) those in 
some sense connected with the congregation, but not regular or frequent 
attendants at the sanctuary; (4) families and individuals having no real 
connection with any Christian congregation, and who come under no 
stated reUgious influence. 

Each of these classes, again, has a four-fold division, according to age; 
into children, youth, the mature, and the old. A watchful pastor un- 
doubtedly carries the analysis further, and classifies the m-embers of these 
subordinate portions in accordance with diversities of condition, charac- 
ter, and history, which indicate different ways in which Christian influ- 
ences may be expected to reach them with good effect. 

Although we are not here called to enter in detail upon a discussion 
of methods of church-labor, it may be proper to indicate certain points 
that invite special attention. 

And, first, with regard to the religious education of children. We 
believe it possible, through the Sunday school and otherwise, to secure a 
larger amount of valuable Christian instruction at the children's homes; 
and that this is necessary. 

This end would be promoted by giving a greater fullness and impres- 
siveness to the mode of administering the baptism of children (which 
ought always to include a brief but solemn covenant, and an appropriate 
chant or hymn), by a more frequent and urgent preaching of this duty, 
and by a system of tender watchfulness, on the part of the church, over 
the baptized children of its charge, and over all the children of its con- 
gregation and Sunday school. 

Turthermore, there is need of a comi^etent revision of Scripture ques- 
tion books, of Sunday-school library and especially of Sunday-school 
music books, and the relentless exclusion of all that are not of really 
excellent quality. The amount of poor and bad material in our children's 
singing-books is appalling. 

Secondly. In respect to the religious training of our youth. It is a 
question for those competent to decide, whether more pains may not 
wisely be taken to exhibit the gospel in its glory, so that the young, who 
are easily kindled with enthusiasm, may be led to feel that nothing else 
can possibly be so glorious as the truths and realities contained in this 



218 PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 

" gospel of the blessed God." Also whether, in addition to general instruc- 
tion, special teachings for the purpose of guarding against prevalent 
errors might not be of use. Whether succinct catechisms might not be 
formed for this purpose; and whether lectures upon portions of church- 
history, and the history of opinions, could not be turned to advantage. 
"Whether the influences of " society " may not be made more uniformly 
benignant and wholesome? Whether pastors are really faithful in fol- 
lowing up with personal labors the efiects of their preaching. 

Thirdly. Are not persons of adult years often incorrectly presumed to 
be practically out of reach? And would not a more sedulous care — 
would not more system — in pastoral labor and administration, be fruit- 
ful of precious results? 

It is certainly true that our churches do not study, methodize, and 
watch their work as they should ; and important portions of it ^re often 
wholly neglected, while others suffer from the inattention necessarily 
consequent upon lack of system. Business is impossible without method; 
and a similar attention to system is indispensable to any complicated or 
long-continued work. 

Fourthly. There are jnanj families and individuals, and not a few dis- 
tinct communities, unreached by any stated ministration of the word. 

Within the parish bounds of many churches, in all the States, there are 
neighborhoods or districts the inhabitants of which belong to no Chris- 
tian congregation, and are reached by no regular religious influence. 
These outlying communities require the attention of the churches. 

Within the bounds of parishes, and often in the immediate neighbor- 
hood of the sanctuary itself, there are numbers of families and indi- 
viduals, — some of foreign, others of native birth, — who are equally 
neglecters of the sanctuary. These outlying classes also d^and the 
attention of the churches. 

The circumstances of these neighborhoods and districts, and the char- 
acter of these classes, are so various in the different parts of the country, 
that it would be unduly occupying the time of the Council to enter here 
upon their classification. The methods by which they are to be reached 
by effective Christian influence are also various; and the consideration 
of them, in detail, belongs to the churches themselves, and to local and 
State conferences, rather than to a Kational Council. The leading 
methods, however, are familiar to all: special visitation; systematic 
visitation, accompanied with a distribution of Bibles, tracts, and religious 
books and papers ; branch Sunday schools ; neighborhood prayer-meet- 
ings, in private dwellings or in school-houses; neighborhood preach- 
ing, — with regular services of worship ; and to these may pi^obably be 
added, what has been so well tried beyond the water, the employment of 
"Bible readers." 

Unquestionably our " outlying communities " and our " outlying classes " 
can all be reached, if the churches will enter upon systematic, prayerful 
endeavors in their behalf It was for such work that they were made. 
Let us not doubt that they can do it. Experience proves that a church , 
that is in earnest, and tolerably well guided, will meet with encouraging 



PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 219 

success; and that a well-€icljusted system makes many things possible 
that are otherwise hopeless. 

Lay Evangelists. 

We have been wont to speak of the foolishness of preaching as the 
power of God, and rightly. But we seem to have forgotten, that preach- 
ing needs not a pulpit or consecrated temple for its efficacy, but may do 
its deepest work by any fireside or wayside, in any workshop or field. 
Wherever a heart full of the divine love brings this love in the truths 
of the gospel to bear upon any other heart, there the gospel is preached, 
the " power of God to salvation." All faithful Christian parents, teachers, 
and friends are instruments of the word and Spirit of God. 

It is a question, whether our churches may not safely set apart and 
"license." certain of their members — gifted with a suitable measure of 
wisdom, knowledge, and power of utterance — as lay evar.gelists, to 
superintend and carry on the Christian work, in out-stations, under the 
particular counsel and oversight of the church, through its committee 
and pastor. We are inclined to believe that an important portion of our 
work now waiting to be done, can be done in no other way. 

Local Conferences. 

' Fifthly, This whole matter is peculiarly the proper and the principal 
theme of church conferences. 

It would seem to require no argument to prove that the immediate 
work of the churches is properly their main concern. Would it not, in- 
deed, be a sti-ange mistake, if, when assembled in conference, they were 
to omit its consideration, or were to fail to give to it, ordinarily, the 
greater part of the time which they spend together? Our Sunday-school 
teachers find enough to interest large conventions in the details of a com- 
paratively hmited and simple task. How vastly more various, com- 
prehensive, and difficult are the responsibilities which come upon the 
churches and their pastors! There can be no question that these de- 
mand a profounder and more general study; and, for the purpose of 
bringing them statedly before the churches, in judicious form and man- 
ner, and of securing an intelligent comparison and summary of methods 
and results, it would probably be well for local conferences to maintain 
standing committees on parochial evangelization. These conferences 
can, also, by means of public discussions and addresses, afiect the move- 
ments of public opinion, and create currents of sentiment which will 
greatly assist each local church in its particular work. 

State Conferences. 

Sixthly, The larger conferences, embracing entire States, can render a 
similar service, appointing their commissions on popular Christianiza- 
tion, — gathering thus the results of the general experience for general 
benefit, and marking the general progress, from year to year, and decade 
to decade, in this process inevitably bringing into prominence questions 
of universal and permanent interest. 



220 PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 

The American Congregational Association^ 

Now have under consideration a plan for securing reports, summaries, 
and discussions, that shall cover the labor of all the churches of the 
country, — our national work of popular Christianization. We trust that 
some arrangement to this end will be carried into effect. 

GENERAL linNISTEEIAL ASSOCIATIONS. 

Another de]3artment of our subject merits more attention than can now 
be given it. Error and sin intrench themselves behind defenses of learn- 
ing, while the truth itself is deej) and wide, — a sea that no sounding-lines 
fathom — a continent which no armies subdue. Hence the importance, 
not only of a learned ministry, but also of ministerial associations, for 
concentrating the best wisdom of the ablest minds upon the exposition, 
inculcation, and defence of the truth. Whether the local associations, 
which are now universal in the older parts of the country, are all that we 
need, and whether larger " colleges," converging the learning and expe- 
rience of the ministry of entire States, may not have a place in the best 
church system, are questions not yet answered. When we consider 
how much is implied in the thorough Christianization of any community, 
that the evangeUzation of our parishes not only involves the defeat of 
iniquity in its high places and its palaces, but also an increase in the av- 
erage depth, and an elevation of the average tone, of popular thinking, 
we can not but be deeply impressed with the importance of securing, on 
the part of our ministry, a patient, united study of great religious themes 
and issues. We need to join our strength, in the endeavor to think the 
thoughts of God; to comprehend, expound, and defend the truth. ISTor 
do we despair of this result, but are inchned to believe that ministerial 
associations, general, as well as local, have an important part to play in 
the grand work of popular Christianization. 

OUR NEED AND OUR DUTY. 

And now, if any are inclined to feel that your committee has dealt too ) 

much with general views, and has had too little to say of details, we re- ] 

ply : The details belong to the churches and their more local conferences ; 
and, furthermore, the general doctrine, with the impulse which it breeds, 
is what the churches now most need. When they have come to estimate 
aright the sacred dignity, responsibility, and privilege which clothe the 
church, as God's kingdom and family, and the agency which he has or- 
dained for the conquest of the world, they will assuredly find out for 
themselves the best methods of Chiistian labor. 

Immense interests are dependent on the proper prosecution of this 
work of parochial evangelization. Unless the churches rise to a higher 
efficiency, not only must multitudes of souls from their own communities 
go down in hopeless paths of sin, but the work that calls to us from broad 
Territories and from newly opened States must fail in its very begin- 

1 Until recently, known as the " Congregational Library' Association." 



PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 221 

ning; and our institutions, flooded with a foreign tide, and penetrated 
with a hidden decay in their very foundations, must yet come to their 
fall. The hope of our land is in the success of its churches. 

Our fathers expected to found a Christian people. This, their jDur- 
pose, is our inheritance. Let us solemnly resume it in all its breadth; 
lift up a standard to the people, and cast up highways for their return, 
until they shall all have come in, a " ^oiy people, the redeemed of the 
Lord." 

In conclusion, yom- committee respectfully suggest the adoption of the 
following 

EEC03DIENDATI0XS TO CHITRCHES AND INHNISTEES. 

1. That, when possible, every church, taking counsel if necessary with 
neighboring churches, define for itself the territory embraced in its par- 
ish, and recognize a special responsibility to labor for the spiritual benefit 
of all Congregational and all neglected families and individuals within 
those bounds. 

AYhen churches are so near together that this is impossible, it is rec- 
ommended that they accept the common territory as their joint parish^ 
and, with a similar formal acknowledgment of responsibihty, secure a good 
mutual understanding for the best prosecution of their work. But, even 
in cities, we counsel a geographical division, in reference to certain kinds 
of labor. In the newer portions of the country, when convenient, an out- 
field may be designated in connection with the parish proper. 

2. We recommend to all churches to devote one prayer-meeting every 
month (or, perhaps, in the case of the feeblest country churches, one in 
each quarter), to the special object of the church and its work, — gi^'ing 
to this meeting the name of The Home Frayer-Meeting, 

3. We would suggest that each church set before itself, as its work, 
the complete Christianization of its parish, and enter methodically upon 
the prosecution of this enterprise, — classifying the whole population in- 
trusted of God to its care, and endeavoring to shape its instrumentalities 
so as to reach the whole ; keeping, also careful records of all known la- 
bor, and all visible j^rogress, and reporting the same, in proper form for 
record, to their neighbor-churches in conference. 

4. That the churches maintain, through local conferences, standing 
committees on parochial evangelization. 

5. That the churches, meeting in State conferences, create permanent 
commissions on popular^ Christianization. 

6. We shall be gratified to learn that the American Congregational 
Association has perfected plans for the promotion of movements toward 
popular Christianization throughout the country. 

7. That all ministers of churches (1) take special pains to instruct 
their people in the ti-ue doctrine of the church; bringing into special prom- 
inence (a) the character of its material — believers; (b) the form of its 
organization — a brotherhood; (c) the dignity of its three-fold end — 
God's glory in conversion, holiness, and worship; (d) the several methods 
whereby it accomphshes its end; making especially prominent the duty 



222 SYSTEMATIZING BENEVOLENT CONTRIBUTIONS. 

of each church to he, within itself, a veritable family of God, and, for 
those without, a band of loving missionaries; and sedulously inculcating 
the doctrine of church resjponsibility for communities. (2) That the min- 
isters systematize the work of their churches, apportioning it so that 
none of it shall be overlooked, and none unnecessarily neglected; and 
aiming to secure the effective employment of as many church-members 
as possible in some form of Christian effort. 

8. It is furthermore suggested, that the churches, in their local confer- 
ences, take into consideration the expediency of endeavoring to meet the 
wants of such outlying districts as can not be statedly supphed with the 
services of ministers of the gospel, by the employment of lay evangelists 
regularly appointed by the church or its committee. 

9. We suggest whether it may not be wise to test, by trial, whether a 
State ministerial association can not be of service as a professional body 
for professional ends, — a college for the promotion of Christian fellow- 
ship, and of the knowledge, wisdom, and skill requisite for the inculcation 
of the truth, the sagacious conduct of necessary controversies, and the 
successful administration of the pastorate, — thus rounding out, in full 
symmetry, our Congregational organization. 

Daniel P. Koyes, 



Boston, June 14, 1865. 



Henky M. Dexter,} ^^^^''^^'«^^- 



Rev. Mr. Langworthy reported the following as the commit- 
tee, and the report was adopted : — 

ON PAROCHIAL EYANGELIZATION. 

Rev. Eeuben T. Eobinson, of Massachusetts; Eev. Amos S. Chese- 
brough, of Connecticut; Eev. John M. Holmes, of ^ew Jersey; Eev. 
Henry M. Goodwin, of Hlinois; Eev. David Burt, of Minnesota; Eev. 
Eichard Cordley, of Kansas ; Eev. James T. Ford, of Yermont. 

CLASSIFICATION OF BEIS^EYOLEISrT OEGANIZATIOKS. 

Eev. Israel W. Andrews, D. D., of Ohio, read the following 
report, which was then referred under the rules : — 

SYSTEMATIZING BENEVOLENT CONTRIBUTIONS. 

The committee to whom was referred " the classification of benevo- 
lent organizations to be recommended to the patronage of the churches," 
have found themselves embarrassed by the difiiculty of attaching precise 
ideas to the subject on which they were appointed to report. In the dis- 
cussion of this topic at the preliminary meeting, three different classes 
of views Avere presented. 

The first contemplated an examination of the existing benevolent 
organizations, with reference to re-arrangement and consohdation. The 



SYSTEMATIZING BEXEYOLENT COXTRIBUTIONS. 223 

conviction was expressed that two or more societies might profitably be 
united into one, as having the same end in view; and that some others, 
in consideration of the urgent wants of the times upon which we are 
entering, should not be pressed upon the churches. 

Another view gave prominence to the practical embarrassments to 
ministers and churches arising from the multiplicity of objects, and the 
confusion and conflict that sometimes result. The present workings of 
our benevolent system were declared to be satisfactory neither to the 
churches nor societies; and the belief was expressed that measm^es ought 
to be devised for their mutual relief. 

The third \iew deprecated any consideration of the topic by the 
Kational Council, deeming it an interference with the work of the indi- 
vidual churches, and not likely to be productive of benefit. In accepting 
the duty assigned them, the committee must, of com'se, put themselves 
in opposition to this last view, though the responsibility belongs to the 
preliminary conference rather than to them; still, the existence of such 
an opinion adds to their embarrassment. If, in addition to this difierence 
of opinion as developed at the preliminary meeting, and subsequently by 
consultation and correspondence, the sensitiveness of the churches on the 
one hand, and that of the benevolent societies on the other, be consid- 
ered, it will be manifest that a duty has been assigned to the committee 
alike difficult and delicate. It would be vain, therefore, to expect that 
the views here presented would meet with universal favor. Whatever 
value may be attached to them, they are given as embodying the results 
to which the committee have been led by the best consideration they 
have been able to give to the subject. 

The individual Christian, as well as the individual church, has a two- 
fold duty to perform ; he is to grow in grace himself, and to do good to 
others. And this latter duty is to be performed partly by personal 
efibrt and partly through the agency of others. Here is the sphere of 
what is com-monly called 'benevolence. The Christian expends money to 
buy Bibles for himself and family; we do not term it benevolence. He 
pays for the support of his own minister; it is not a benevolent con- 
ti-ibution. But money given to procure Bibles for distribution, to sup- 
port a minister preaching to a feeble congregation, to send the living 
teacher to the heathen, is said to be for benevolent purposes. Possibl}', 
Christians sometimes employ others to do what it would be better that 
they should do themselves. It may be easier in some cases to give 
money than personal efibrt. But the discussion of that topic belongs 
not to this committee. Assume that there are no shortcomings in the 
personal activity of the members of a church, — that no one of them 
performs by proxy the duty which he should perform in person; still, 
there is a boundless field in the cultivation of which others must be 
employed, and for this benevolent contributions are indispensable. It 
may be said, indeed, that the more of personal efficiency the Christian 
manifests, the more will he give for objects beyond his immediate reach; 
that the more perfectly he cultivates his local field, the more vividly will 
lie see and feel the wants of the great field, the world. 



224 SYSTEMATIZING BENEVOLENT CONTRIBUTIONS. 

The question, then, of benevolent contributions is one of great scope. 
It comprehends a large part of the work of the Christian, — of the 
churches. The giving of money is not enough; it should be given intel- 
ligently. To what causes shall our churches contribute? To what 
organizations shall they intrust the expenditure of their money? These 
are questions always important, always pertinent. Is there any thing in 
the peculiar circumstances of our country, or the world, that makes 
them specially important and appropriate at the present time? Has 
there been any change in the relative importance of different organiza- 
tions? Even if nothing be said of the honesty, fidelity, and ability with 
which these organizations have been conducted, has not the progress of 
events, or rather the providence of God, rendered the claims of some 
more imperative, of others less so, than formerly? Has not this Coun- 
cil been convened to consider anew the fields of Christian labor, and to 
inquire how the work of Christian benevolence can be most successfully 
carried forward? 

The subject of benevolent contributions is thus broad and compre- 
hensive; and a discussion of it, while embracing, should by no means be 
limited to, the practical difficulties of which our ministers and churches 
complain. 

These difficulties are, an undue multiplication of organizations; too 
many occasional contributions, which interfere with the regular causes ; 
a want of discrimination, so that more important objects sometimes 
receive the smaller contributions ; and, in general, an excess of friction 
in the working of the machinery. Perhaps the difficulties may be re- 
duced to these two, — a lack of system in the organization of the 
benevolent societies, considered as a whole, and a lack of system in the 
arrangements for contributions in the individual churches. Has not too 
much been left to accident, as well in the formation of the societies as in 
providing the means for their operations? 

Our benevolent machinery should be as simple as possible consistent 
with the highest efficiency. Two or more organizations ought not to be 
established or continued to perform a work for which one is sufficient. 
The churches have no surplus, either of men or money, for organizations 
which are not strictly necessary. It has been said that api^eals have 
been made to our churches, for contributions in behalf of the Freedmen, 
by twelve different organizations. Besides the useless expenditure in 
keeping up so many associations, what confusion must be caused by 
such a multiplicity of appeals for the same object! Nothing is plainer 
than that no new society should be established without the most careful 
examination of the field to be cultivated, and of the agencies already 
engaged in the work. There should also be a wide consultation of intel- 
ligent. Christian men, both clerical and lay, before entering upon so 
important an undertaking as laying the foundations of a benevolent asso- 
ciation, which is to be supported, if supported at all, by appeals to 
Christian churches. 

Akin to this difficulty arising from the multiplicity of organizations 
is that from the numerous occasional calls for contributions. This evil 



SYSTEMATIZING BENEVOLENT CONTRIBUTIONS. 225 

is felt more in the cities and larger towns. Aid is needed for some object 
not coming within the province of any regular association, and to secure 
it, apphcation is made to one or more churches where it is thought a 
hearing can be obtained. The applicant deems his cause to be meritorious 
in a high degree; and it is one, moreover, whose claims to immediate 
attention are imperative. It is often difficult thus to withstand the various 
influences brought to bear upon the pastors or officers of the church, 
and the number of calls of this character may become, in the aggregate, 
very great. 

But shall a church absolutely close its doors to all appeals except 
from certain societies? By no means. With all our system, we can not 
so look into the future as to see all that a year will disclose. There 
are good objects to which aid must be rendered outside of the regular 
organizations. But the number will be small. 

As it is, the churches complain, and with reason. Even if all these 
occasional calls were for worthy objects, their number is an evil. In 
some cases private hberality should be appealed to. In others, the aid 
should be given through one of the regular societies. Almost every 
large church takes collections each year for objects which' come legit- 
imately within the sphere of some one of the regular benevolent organiza- 
tions. In the eyes of some men, independence is the cardinal virtue. 
They wish to do things in their own way. They care not to be ham- 
pered. If they raise the money which they think they need, directly 
from the churches, instead of receiving it from the treasury of a society, 
they are sure of a wide discretion in its expenditure. This feehng of 
independence, this impatience of restraint, will account for many of these 
occasional calls on the churches. Perhaps to the same source may be 
traced the formation of some of our numerous organizations. 

As illustrating the great advantage to the churches of rendering aid 
luiough the channel of a regular society, rather than in response to 
individual appeals, reference may be had to the society established more 
than twenty years ago for aiding colleges and theological seminaries in 
the West. The churches were saved from a multitude of conflicting 
applications. What they had to contribute they could give with perfect 
confidence that it would be wisely appropriated. Substantial aid was 
thus furnished to institutions really worthy, while it was withheld from 
those that were not needed. 

Some, at least, of these occasional appeals will be for unworthy ol^jects. 
Yet it is often exceedingly difficult for the pastor, or the officers of the 
church, to distinguish at the time between the good and the bad. Even 
recommendations from men of the highest respectability are not always 
proof that the object recommended is deserving, o^ames are sometimes 
given without any expectation that they are to be used for such a purpose. 
Thousands of dollars may be collected at a distance, on the strength of 
recommendations from men who, living in the vicinity, and having per- 
sonal knowledge, would neither give a dollar themselves, nor take a 
collection in their churches. But men should have more firmness, it is 
said. Of course they should; but the fact that all have not this desirable 
15 



226 SYSTEMATIZING BENEVOLENT CONTRIBUTIONS. 

trait makes it the more difficult for the churches to know to which of 
these occasional calls they should respond. 

This class of appeals should be subjected to the severest scrutiny. 
The churches have no funds to expend on unworthy objects; and when 
men discover that they have given to such, their confidence is shaken, 
and their general contributions are diminished. 

In connection with these occasional calls outside of the regular benev- 
olent organizations, allusion may be made to the taking-up of a second 
collection for a given cause in a single year. The exigency of the case 
is the reason assigned. But as there are many societies which need all 
the funds they can obtain, it is a question whether justice to others will 
allow any one to ask for a double opportunity. The precedent would 
be sure to be pleaded, and thus the difficulties from which the churches 
now seek relief would be increased. The year is the great unit of time 
for our benevolent societies, and there is eminent propriety in adhering 
to it. 

These are some of the embarrassments under which the churches labor. 
The multiplicity of appeals for carrying forward the work of the regular 
societies, as well as for the objects lying beyond their sphere, tends to 
confuse the minds of the people, and subjects the pastors to a sore trial. 
But these are not the only parties from whom complaints are heard. 
The managers of our great charitable organizations are no better satisfied 
with the practical workings of the benevolent machinery. The conflict 
of application prevents a full development of Christian benevolence, and 
thus these organizations are often subjected to serious embarrassment 
in their work. Those upon whom devolves the duty of presenting these 
causes to the churches, find their work, which at best is never pleasant, 
to be doubly disagreeable. 

It should never be forgotten that the churches and the societies are 
laboring for a common end, — that the latter are but the agents of the 
former. There should ever be the highest Christian courtesy between 
our ministers and churches on the one hand, and the officers and agents 
of our benevolent societies on the other. The many appeals, sometimes 
conflicting, that are made, coupled with the lack of system which prevails j 

in too many of the churches, furnish ground for complaint, it may be, ^ 

but not for the tone and manner in which that complaint sometimes finds 
expression. It is easy to find fault with agents, but the time for wholly 
dispensing with their services has not yet come. The number of pastors 
who are both able and willing to do in their own churches all that 
is usually done by agents is increasing every year; and just as far as the 
work can thus be done should other agencies be dispensed with. Nothing 
will tend more to hasten the day when extraneous help will no longer be 
needed than a wise classification of benevolent organizations, and the 
devising and executing in every church a thorough system of contri- 
butions. 

The pastors of the churches and the officers and agents of the societies 
are laboring in the same great field. All desire that the benevolence 
of the churches should be so developed and directed as to accomplish the 



■ SYSTEMATIZING BENEVOLENT CONTRIBUTIONS. 227 

highest good. If this requires the consolidation of two or more societies 
into one, no personal or official considerations should be allowed to stand 
in the way of doing it. An organization may have been hitherto ab- 
solutely necessary, whose work can henceforth be done as efficiently and 
more economically by another. Great changes are taking place, new 
and wide fields of Christian enterprise have been thrown open; our benev- 
olent operations must be adapted to the exigencies of the times, and to 
the demands which God is making upon us. 

As already stated, one of the great ends for which this Council has 
been convened is to inquire what is the special duty of the churches 
which we represent in relation to the great fields of labor which the 
providence of God has opened to us. Having given this inquiry their 
most earnest and prayerful consideration, shall the Council then recom- 
mend to the churches the benevolent organizations through which these 
fields are to be cultivated? Your committee have no hesitation in giving 
an affirmative answer to this question. Not to make such a recommend- 
ation would be to leave their work but half accomplished. Nor is there 
any reason to fear that the churches will deem it an interference. 
If the members of an individual church are guided in great measure, as 
to the direction which their contributions shall take, by the suggestions 
of their pastor, who can doubt that the deliberate recommendation of 
this large body of ministers and delegates will carry with jt great weight? 
The Council should not be deterred from such a recommendation, either 
by a groundless fear of encroaching on the rights of the churches, or be- 
cause of any apprehended insinuations of inconsistency from those who 
prefer some other polity. The Congregational churches have been so 
thoroughly pervaded with the spirit of cathoHcity, and so ready to do 
good wherever an opportunity offered itself, and to contribute money to 
sustain enterprises, no matter by whom controlled, that the absence of 
denominational feeling has come to be regarded as their denominational 
characteristic. And when action is proposed that has any look toward 
providing for our o^vn, and especially for those of our own house, it is 
hinted within, and asserted without, that we are abandoning the old ways, 
and becoming like the nations around us. 

The churches have sent up their delegates to deliberate on great ques- 
tions. Shall the results of their deliberations be hermetically sealed, lest 
the churches shall know what has been done, and be influenced thereby? 
On the same principle, and with equal wisdom, suppress our Congrega- 
tional Quarterly^ and give up all our religious newspapers and period- 
icals. 

The ministry is the chief instrumentality by which the world is to be 
converted to God. The gospel is to be preached at home and abroad. 
This is the great work. Others are important as they aid and supple- 
ment this. This is the principal; others are auxiliary. We call it the 
missionary work, home and foreign. But the missionary is a minister, 
and the importance of his work may be estimated by that of the pastors 
of our churches. Close the places of worship in these towns of New 
England, and remove the ministers from their people, and then expect 



228 SYSTEMATIZING BENEVOLENT CONTRIBUTIONS. 

the ways of Zion to rejoice, and the kingdom of Christ to be built up! 
When those whose field of labor is on our Western frontiers have looked 
over the wastes, and heard the importunate appeals for ministers, they 
may be pardoned if sometimes they have asked themselves whether the 
Christians of a county in Massachusetts or Connecticut would be quite 
satisfied to have, as their sole spiritual guide and teacher, a colporter. 
If nothing could be a substitute for the ministry here in New England, 
neither could it be in the West. Were the members of our churches to 
make an estimate of the amount invested in church edifices in the older 
States, as well as the sums annually expended in payment of salaries, 
and in defraying the other expenses incidental to sustaining public wor- 
ship, they would have more sympathy with the feeble churches of the 
newer portions of our country, and their contributions to aid them would 
be greatly increased. 

The Christian ministry is the great agency to be employed. Those 
churches which can not, unaided, support their pastor, must receive 
assistance. Young men must be brought into the ministry, and the 
churches must aid in defraying the expenses of their education. Houses 
of worship are necessary, and a helping hand must be given in erecting 
them. If permanent educational institutions have been found indis- 
pensable to the highest and truest religious progress in New England, 
and especially as training-places for the ministry, they should for the 
same reason be estabhshed elsewhere. So far as ministers and Christian 
laymen can make more available their efforts to do good, by the circula- 
tion of the word of God, or by the distribution of tracts and other printed 
matter, or by furnishing libraries to Sabbath schools, they should cer- 
tainly avail themselves of these auxiliary means. But it is of no little 
importance that these associations, which are engaged in thus providing 
religious reading, should be regarded as merely supplementing the work 
of the ministry. The special wants of our seamen should not be over- 
looked, though the duty of making provision for their spiritual improve- 
ment seems to devolve chiefly upon the members of our churches on the 
seaboard. So, too, a class in our own country, that can not be reached 
directly by our domestic missionaries, may require special provision 
for a time; and, through the same channel, efforts may be made for 
bringing the gospel to those who dwell in papal countries. The peo- 
ple from whom the shackles of slavery have just fallen have a claim 
upon us for the gospel and the institutions of religion and civilization, 
which we have neither the right nor the desire to shake off. As yet, but 
a small portion of that work can be done by our Home Missionary So- 
ciety ; but another organization is already doing most efficient service, 
whose antecedents give it the highest confidence of that people. 

So far, then, as it belongs to this committee to classify organizations 
to be recommended to the churches, we place first and foremost the 
two great missionary societies, — the American Board of Commissioners 
for Foreign Missions, and the American Home Missionary Society. If 
the important work of church building could be performed by the lattei 
of these two societies, the churches doubling contributions, it would sim- 



SYSTEM ATIZI>'G BENEVOLE^'T CONTRIBT.TIONS. 229 

plify to that extent our benevolent work. Whatever other causes are 
overlooked by any church, these two should always be remembered. 

The cause of education for the ministry has a relation to the missionary 
work more intimate than that sustained by any other, and its importance 
should give it place in all om^ churches. In some of the States, an edu- 
cational committee attends to the work of collecting funds, and in others 
the American Education Society has the matter in charge. Surplus 
funds might well be used, as in some other denominations, in estabhshing 
permanent scholarships. 

As also directly connected with the missionary work, the Society for 
promoting Collegiate and Theological Education at the West should be 
named. Its work in the past has been most salutary, and through no 
other channel can liberal men do so much to advance, in the West, the 
interests of thorough intellectual culture, under the auspices of rehg- 
ion. 

The American Missionary Association is understood to devote its 
chief — perhaps its entire — attention to the freedmen, and the com- 
mittee take pleasure in referring to it as the fittest organization for that 
work. 

The American Bible Society is too weU known to need any special 
mention. 

In regard to contributions for furnishing hbraries to destitute Sabbath 
schools, the committee venture a single suggestion. It is, that a portion, 
at least, of the contributions made by the children of our Sabbath schools 
should take this direction, or that our churches, when raising funds for 
replenishing their own hbraries, should, at the same time, contribute for 
feeble schools. Suitable books can be procured in many places, though 
none more suitable, nor on better terms, than from the Massachusetts 
Sabbath School Society. 

Allusion has already been made to the American and Foreign Chris- 
tian Union, and to the American Seamen's Eriend Society. 

Most of the organizations called into existence by the exigencies of 
the war wiU cease with the occasion which called them forth. The work 
for the Ereedmen, however, must continue ; and, as already suggested, 
the American Missionary Association seems to be the most desirable 
channel through which our churches should contribute. 

There are many points to which the attention of the Council might be 
called, for the discussion of which the committee have not time. The 
importance of conducting the benevolent operations of the individual 
churches in a systematic and business manner, to which allusion has 
already been made, can not be urged too strongly. The nature of our 
polity makes this indispensable. While our churches abound with 
business men, it is to be feared that in cases not a few the contributions 
are managed with very httle reference to business principles. Let it not 
be forgotten that benevolent contributions are a means of grace. The 
individual Christian who gives is benefited no less than he who receives. 
All proper means should then be employed to develop the benevolence 
of our churches. Among these means none is more important than the 



230 SYSTEMATIZING BENEVOLENT CONTRIBUTIONS. 

adoption of a well-digested plan, such as is already in operation in many 
churches. Suppose each church should, at the beginning of the year, 
determine to what causes they will contribute, specifying the months. 
The churchy we say, not the pastor, or the pastor and deacons, for the 
members must be interested that they may act intelligently. The num- 
ber of occasional contributions should be hmited, for it is those which 
are responsible for most of the confusion. Let as little as possible be 
left to discretion, and nothing to accident. At the end of the year let a 
full report of the contributions be made to the church, and entered upon 
the church records. Let the appropriate committees, or the deacons, 
present the receipts of the treasurers of the societies as the proper evi- 
dence that the contributions have reached their destination. All other 
associations make their annual reports; why should not our churches? 
The members need to know what their church has done. In some 
churches this knowledge is in possession, but not in all. It is proba- 
ble that our members know less of the operations of their individual 
churches, and less of what is done by the churches of their order 
throughout the land, than those of any sister denomination. To what- 
ever cause this may be attributed, it is to be remedied only by sys- 
tematic effort in the individual church. 

The committee think that those churdhes which contribute to a regu- 
lar cause each month will have no difficulty in completing the cycle each 
year. But no occasional cause should be allowed to crowd out one of 
those decided upon by the church. Where collections are taken less fre- 
quently, two plans may be adopted. One is to make contributions 
singly for the more important objects, and to group the others, that the 
list shall be completed each year. The other contemplates annual col- 
lections for the great causes, and biennial for the others. Each has its 
advantages. Where two or more causes are presented at once, and the 
collection divided, the impression must be less distinct and definite. 
The members should give intelligently, and clear statements should be 
made by agents or pastors of the nature and object and workings of 
every association for which funds are solicited. The pastors assume too 
much knowledge of our societies and their operations on the part of 
their congregations. They forget that young people are all the while 
coming forward, and that men are brought into the church from the 
world, with whom the American Board even is not a household word. 
It is om- conviction that a clear, business-Uke statement of the condition 
and operations of a society, occupying ten or fifteen minutes, would be 
more potent with the men who give the money than an impassioned 
appeal of an hour. 

In conclusion, the evils of which so much complaint has been made 
can be remedied by the pastor and the churches, and by them alone. 
The adoption of rigid system, as to contributions, is indispensable to the 
prosperity of every church. Irresponsible agents must be excluded, and 
churches must decide for themselves to what they will contribute. 
Their plans and the manner in which they are executed should be put on 
record. The history of the benevolence of a church is worthy of pres- 



EVANGELIZATION IN FOREIGN LANDS. 231 

ervation. Because money is given for benevolent purposes, it does not 
follow that it should be given at random. Perhaps, by virtue of their 
office, the deacons should look after these matters; but if they do not, 
the minister must. Let him not fear a httle contact with business 
details. Other things being equal, the more practical talent he pos- 
sesses, the greater T\ill be his success. 

The field of benevolence is large and open. A great work is before 
us. God has given wealth to our churches, and, to some extent, they 
acknowledge their stewardship. What is specially needed is system, 
both in the individual churches and in the benevolent organizations con- 
sidered as parts of one whole, and as doing a common work ; it is needed 
in the former, that the treasury of the Lord may be kept always full; in 
the latter, that from every expenditure the best results may flow. 

Israel W. Andrews, "^ 
Eay Palmer, >- Committee. 

Henry E. Parker, ) 

Boston, June 14, 1865. 

It was accepted, and reference ordered to a special commit- 
tee. 

The convention then took a recess until 3 o'clock, p. M. 

AFTEKKOON SESSI0:N". 

The Council was called to order at 3 o'clock, Rev. Dr. 
Thompson in the chair. 

The report of the committee on Evangelization in Foreign 
Lands was read by the chairman, Rev. Dr. Budington, as 
follows : — 

EYAKGELIZATION li^ FOEEIGK LAIRDS. 

The committee appointed by the Council upon the work of evangeliza- 
tion in foreign lands, submit the following report : — 

As Congregationalists we are not only committed to the prosecution 
of foreign missions, but our place is that of pioneers in the enterjDrise. 
"We have taken the lead of all the denominations in our land in the 
origination of agencies, and the contribution of men and means. The 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions is the child of 
the Congregationalists of ISTew England; and although instituted in the 
comprehensive spirit of catholic Christianity, and common to us with 
the Presbyterians, and formerly with the Reformed Dutch Church, it 
has all along been the favorite of our people ; and there is no distinction 
which we cherish more fondly than this of having originated and been 
foremost in sustaining American missions to the heathen. ISTew England 
was at the outset a mission. Our fathers came here on this distinct 
errand, as professedly and as really to preach the gospel to the Indians, 



232 EVANGELIZATION IN FOREIGN LANDS. 

and to extend the Eedeemer's kingdom, as to make new homes for them- 
selves, train up their children for God, and lay the foundations of a 
Christian State. Congregationalists, therefore, come legitimately by 
their zeal for foreign missions. We should be unworthy of our ances- 
try, and recreant to the trust we have received from them, if we should 
make the commandment of Christ to preach the gospel to every creature 
secondary to any other duty or interest. Especially incumbent is this 
declaration upon this First National Congregational Council ; and not 
the less because we are assembled at a solemn juncture of our country's 
history to enter afresh upon the work of home missions, and adjust our- 
selves to the new openings the war has made for the establishment of 
free churches and a free gospel in the South. We are planning and 
praying for the enfranchisement and regeneration of our country; but 
we do not stop with this, — we wish to give our country to Christ, that 
through it the world may be the more speedily redeemed. A patriotism 
that ends in coldness or antagonism toward the rest of mankind is sel- 
fishness and crime. Our country, its reconstruction and evangelization, 
is just now our first solicitude; but so far from separating the home 
field from the foreign, we believe them to be one and indissoluble, and 
it is only as we are loyal to Christ that we can hope that he will be pro- 
pitious to us. 

Your committee, therefore, recommend that the Council, as represent- 
atives of the churches, do testify their deep sense of the importance of 
Foreign Missions, and their unabated devotion to the prosecution of the 
enterprise. We need it for ourselves. The work will die at home, if it 
languish abroad. It is the sign of our fellowship with Christ. It is the 
condition of his blessing. We need it in every sense, and for every 
reason. Our piety needs it. It is the purest form of benevolence on 
earth; and it sustains and intones every other form of benevolence in 
church or State. If we withhold from the heathen, God will withhold 
from us. If we keep back our sons and daughters from the remotest 
people for whom Christ died, the spirit will be wanting in them for the 
service of God in this our dearest country. For every true missionary 
of the cross who has died on the foreign field, God has poured the spirit 
of consecration into the hearts of our youth at home ; and we have been 
the richer in spirit and material for every such loss. We can not afford 
to shut off this source of supply, now that we are entering a wider and 
more destitute field of missionary effort than was ever open to a Chris- 
tian people before, and we need resources of men and money which 
nothing short of the Spirit of Christ in the best ages of missionary zeal 
can impart. For ourselves, then, and the work of home evangelization, 
we must cultivate the missionary spirit, and bound our sympathies only 
where Christ bounded his. 

Besides this, God has so greatly blessed us, given us such success in 
regions so wide and inviting, so many populations are looking to us for 
the gospel, and by the tacit consent of Protestant Christians are left to 
us, and made dependent upon us, that we are beholden of God to pjos- 
ecute the work. No branch of the church has missions relatively more 



EVANGELIZATION IN FOREIGN LANDS. 233 

important to the evangelization of the world than ours. Some of the 
most interesting peoples, and, when converted, the most influential, are 
ours to labor for, and by the blessing of God redeem. ]N'o missionaries 
from any land, in any j)art of the world, have won a more enviable name 
than the Congregational and Presbyterian missionaries connected with 
the American Board; nor has greater success been vouchsafed to any 
laborers than to them. The Turkish Empire is open to us as to no other 
nation, and the decayed Oriental churches are receiving almost entirely 
the gospel at our hands. And it is a pure gospel. The churches gathered 
among the Armenians are as worthy of confidence as those gathered by 
the apostles, and by the blessing of God may be made as etficient in 
spreading the truth. In India, we have a wide and most important field 
among the Mahratta and Tamil races. In iSTorthern China the openings 
are more numerous than we can enter. In South Africa we have a lim- 
ited but interesting field; and Western Africa affords to us one well fitted 
to call forth the energies and educate the Christian zeal of the Freedmen 
of our country, and it seems to have been held in reserve for us by God 
to meet the wants of our colored loeople, and assist in their development. 
Africa and America, whose destinies have been so strangely blended in 
the past, are to react upon each other in blessings that shall efiace the 
memory of the wrongs and cruelties of the age of slavery. As to the 
islands in the ocean World, it is enough for us to point to the Hawaiian 
peoples whom our missions have given to the community of nations ; and 
though they are in a transition state from dependence upon missionaries 
to a condition of self-support, we must defend them from invasion and 
injury by others till they shall b» able to preserve, by their own intel- 
ligence, the free institutions we have given them. And there is also the 
Micronesian mission, a most hopeful enterprise, an offshoot of Hawaiian 
zeal, and doubly precious to us, as a seal of the true Christianity of those 
recently regenerated islands. How intimately, therefore, are we related 
by past labors and present commitments to the whole world of mankind, 
and how much is the speed and thoroughness of the world's evangelization 
dependent upon the continued activities of Congregational Christians! 
We can not, if we would, disengage ourselves from the work; we would 
not, if we could. 

Wm. Ives Budington, 

Zachaey Eddy, 

C. C. Parker, 

Benjamin Douglas, 

William Carter, 



f Committee. 



J 



This report was accepted and adopted. 

Rev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio, of the committee on Business, 
reported the following resolution, without any recommenda- 
tion : — 

Besolved, That the Committee on the Koll be instructed to report the 



234 WELCOME TO GOV. ANDREW. 

names of those members only who furnish a list of the chm-ches that 
actually participated in the vote by which they were chosen. 

The resolution was adopted. 

The committee also reported the following resolution : — 

Besolved, That the Committeee to whom the Report on Home Evan- 
gelization was referred, be requested to consider the expediency of or- 
ganizing some system of benevolent effort, by which in the various regions 
of the country where the education of the whole population is not pro- 
vided for by law, teachers may be sent forth, in company with missionaries, 
and schools be established wherever churches are gathered. 

The resolution was adopted. 

At this point, His Excellency, Gov. Andrew, of Massachusetts, 
entered the church, accompanied by Rev. Dr. Kirk and Major 
Wm. L. Burt. On reaching the platform, he was welcomed by 
the Moderator, in the following address : — 

"We are very happy. Gov. Andrew, to welcome you on this occasion. 
I am happy to present your Excellency to this council, reiDresenting three 
thousand Congregational churches in our land — a body with whose 
constitution your Excellency is of course familiar. "When fully organized, 
as at first, we are, in a sense, a Christian State as well, having for our 
head an honored Governor of a sister State, who has stood by you, 
sir, shoulder to shoulder, in our dark and terrible struggle. [Ap- 
plause.] — That noble man, from whose live-oak the wisdom of Con- 
necticut, for seven successive years, hath hewn out her pillars of State. 
[Renewed applause.] And yet, sir, when he sits here among us, it is not 
in his capacity as a governor, but as a deacon of one of these little Chris- 
tian Commonwealths, and as a member of the body of Christ, serving 
with us under Him who is Head over all principahties and powers, and 
who is Head over all things to his church. 

It is no new thing, sir, for a body of Christian men, of Congregational 
men, to tender their expression of loyalty and respect to the State. These 
are loyal men; they have been loyal to the nation from first to last; and, 
sir, they have been loyal to good old Massachusetts, acknowledging her 
lead in this dark and terrible conflict. [Applause.] And we have rejoiced 
to feel, sir, that that State, whose Quincy Adams and Charles Sumner 
were the first confessors in this great moral conflict, and whose noble 
sons, in the streets of Baltimore, were the first martyi's in this material 
conflict, has been so nobly led through this dark and terrible storm. 
[Applause.] We honor you, sir, while with you we honor Him who hath 
ruled over all these mighty deeds for the restoration of the land; who 
himself hath taught us that a great redemption from a great sin comes 
only by a great sacrifice. While we bow reverently, acknowledging the 



RESPONSE OF GOV. ANDREW. 235 

hand of God, we rejoice also to honor those who have been his honored 
instruments. We thank you, sir, for your promptitude, your energy, 
your firmness throughout all this sti'uggle; and we thank you, especially, 
for words that have roused the hearts of the people, — words such as few 
of our public men have been gifted to utter in this conflict. [Applause.] 
Words, stirring words from your lips, flashing across the wires, have 
thrilled our hearts in other cities and other States; and you, sir, have 
taught us to apply the words of Scripture as mottoes of patriotism, 
charging us, as I well remember, in one of our darkest hours, to go for- 
ward in this conflict " with the high praises of God in our mouths and 
the two-edged sword in our hands." We remembered, sir, that Massa- 
chusetts had once more, according to her motto, drawn the sword, that 
she might have again the sweet repose of liberty, — a sword drawn, only 
for the defense of justice and liberty, — and we knew that when she 
drew it,' it would never be sheathed until justice and liberty were won. 

We welcome you to-day, sir, as the representative of Massachusetts, 
in that long line of illustrious governors, excelled by the record of no 
other States. Governor of Massachusetts, this Council tenders you its 
respects; this Council will remember you in its prayers; this Council 
now waits the pleasure of your words. [Loud applause.] 

■ To this address. Gov. Andrew responded as follows : — 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: — You ought not to expect one of my 
experience, — I say nothing of my years, — to be embarrassed. [Laugh- 
ter.] I took the liberty to inquire this morning, concerning the hours of 
the afternoon session of your Council, because, being under the necessity 
of visiting Western Massachusetts and Connecticut to-morrow and next 
day, I feared that your body might adjourn before an opportunity should 
come to me of seeing it in session, and of paying my personal and ofiicial 
respects to the gentleman who is the jDcrmanent President of the organi- 
zation, — Governor Buckingham of Connecticut, with whom I have had, 
for several years, a most agreeable intercourse, and for whom I entertain 
the highest respect. I did not know, nor suspect, that in ^dsiting the 
Council I should be placed in any situation where attention would be 
called to my person or presence, differing at all from that of any other 
visitor; but since it has pleased you, Mr. Chairman, and you, gentlemen 
of the Council, to recognize in the person of an official representative, ithe 
merits and worth and history and character of that grand old Common- 
wealth which it is my fortune to attempt to serve, I can not, either in 
respect to her or to your kindness, omit to respond, out of place as per- 
haps, in other respects, I might be upon your platform, with such poor 
words of my o^ti as may be given me to say. 

I thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the cordial words with which you have 
alluded to the history of Massachusetts, and to the pubhc services of her 
pubUc men. I am sure there is no man or woman in all our domain who 
does not catch with gratitude and sentiments of cordial reciprocity, every 
smcere and kind word looking either to our past, present, or to our future; 



236 RESPONSE OF GOV. ANDREW. 

for we recognize in our Commonwealth of Massachusetts, only one of the 
representative States of the American Union, patient to follow, and also 
prepared to lead. [Loud applause.] If in the past, either as leaders or 
followers, we have been found faithful to the great ideas which characterize 
American liberty, to the great duty which Divine Providence has laid upon 
this people, to the great hopes foreshadowed for us and for all mankind 
in the principles of that very G-ospel in whose service you are met, we 
are grateful to that great and good Being who is the Father of man and 
the Sovereign of nations, that he has given to us such measure of liberty, 
that he has given to us such measure of grace. And, more than all, sir, 
we are grateful for the opportunities ol this present hour, which opens 
to the faithful, devoted servants of universal truth to-day, a work for 
mankind which it was never the province of the sword to accomplish. 
[Applause.] 

Mr. Chairman, the hour has come when the duties of statesmanship 
are before us, transcending in importance a thousand times, either the 
duties or the hardships of war. War, sir, is a question of science; war 
presents a problem of mathematics ; and almost any one can solve that 
problem by a shrewd guess in advance. Assure us on which side are the 
strongest and heaviest battalions; assure us that the side on which the 
strongest and heaviest battalions are will never give up, and mathematics 
prove to us who will win. Let us be assured, Mr. Chairman, that truth and 
justice are on our side, and I do not know that we will win, in this our 
day. The days of God are long — those of men are short. The work 
of God is in eternity — the work of men is in time. The question now 
presents itself to the American people whether they are capable, by 
reason of conviction, by reason of a firm purpose, by reason of a suffi- 
ciently intelligent comprehension of their own duty and their own case, 
to link themselves with the fortunes of eternity, and in the great moral 
battles of the universe, fight with God. [Loud applause.] And I trust, 
Mr. President, that the meetings of such associations as yours, that the 
convenings of men led and inspired by high conceptions of duty, whose 
hearts anchor themselves to the Eternal Throne, may help to encourage, 
instruct, and inspire the people. [Applause.] 

I know not how far I agree or how far I differ with a majority of the 
gentlemen, or any one of the gentlemen present, upon questions of dog- 
matic theology, and I suppose that neither you nor any one else cares. 
But I do know that you, as faithful citizens and Christian men, do care 
whether the people of Massachusetts, and those to whom, for a time, it 
is given in any measure to represent Massachusetts, are grounded in 
those doctrines, principles and methods of the Bible upon which were 
originally founded the free commonwealths of America. [Applause.] 
In a common purpose, with a common hope, encouraged by the expecta- 
tion of good in this fife and the promise of supernal good in that which is 
to come, let us devote ourselves, with one heart and one mind, toward 
the realization of the highest hopes of humanity, toward the perfection 
of all that which distinguishes and characterizes us as a free people, that 
which inspires the song of angels, and adds to the beatitude of heaven. 
[Loud applause.] 



RESOLUTIONS. ^O < 

E-ev. Mr. Quint, in behalf of the Business Committee, submit- 
ted the following resolutions : — 

Whereas, all true principles of civil and religious freedom have origin- 
ated from the Bible, and can be established and sustained only by the gen- 
eral circulation of the Word of God through all the channels of popular 
education, whether in the school or in the sanctuary; therefore, 

Besolved, That we honor the wisdom, as well as the piety of our Pu- 
ritan fathers, in ordering the daily use of the Bible in the schools estab- 
lished for the education of the people. 

That we regret any departure from this time-hallowed usage, as 
destroying the life-giving power of popular education, which has no true 
basis but in those great principles of human brotherhood and equality, 
taught alone in the Holy Scriptures. 

That, in our elForts to promote the education of the people, and to train 
up an intelhgent, patriotic, and Christian community, understanding 
their rights and duties, and prepared to carry out the great mission of 
freedom and religion opening before this nation, we pledge ourselves to 
maintain the right of the Word of God in the school as in the sanctuary, 
and to resist, steadfastly, any and every encroachment on that wise pro- 
vision of our fathers which carried the Bible into the daily education of 
the people. 

The resolutions were adopted. 

The committee also presented the following resolution, which 
was referred to the committee on Declaration of Faith : — 

Resolved, That, in the gathering of new churches in the West and 
South, the ]N"ational Council recommend that only those essential doc- 
trines of the Gospel in which evangelical Christians generally are agreed 
should be made the condition of chm-ch fellowship. 

The following resolutions were also submitted by the com- 
mittee, and severally laid on the table : — 

Besolved, That a committee be appointed to report an order of public 
Sabbath services in our churches, that will relieve us from the present 
confusing diversity by some appropriate order of service that will secure, 
in the denomination, general harmony. 

Besolved, That a committee be appointed to consider and report on the 
expediency of recognizing, as part of the Congregational system, a class 
of ministers specially devoted to the work of promoting revivals of relig- 
ion, in connection with pastors, 

Besolved, That inasmuch as the enemies of Christianity are at this day 
persistent in their attempts to overthrow the Bible through the medium 
of science, a special committee be appointed by this Council, to give 



238 WALDENSIAN CHURCH. ITALY. 

utterance to our confident belief that the Bible will withstand all the 
assaults of its opponents. 

Besolved, That a committee be appointed to which all historical and 
statistical documents shall be referred. 

The Business Committee also presented the following inquiry 
to the Council, which had been submitted to them : — 

" Is it according to Congregational principles for a minister, who is not 
a pastor, to represent a church in an Ecclesiastical Council ? " 

The question was referred to the committee on Church Polity. 
The following resolution was also submitted by the same 
committee : — 

Besolved, That a committee be appointed to consider, and, if they deem 
it expedient, report upon the relations and duties of our denomination in 
relation to religious books and tracts. 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Gulliver, of Connecticut, the resolu- 
tion was referred to a special committee of three. 

The following letter was read by Rev. Dr. Wolcott, and, on 
motion of Rev. Dr. Sturtevant, referred to a special committee of 
three : — 

The Synod of the Waldensian Church, of Italy, to the Christians of the 

United States. 

Brethren in" Christ: — The Synod of the Waldensian Church, 
lately assembled for its annual session at San Giovanni, Piedmont, has 
felt it behooved it as a Christian body, to record, in their acts, their 
sympathy for you in the loss you have sustained by the death of your 
late President, and has directed me to convey to you, in writing, an ex- 
pression of their feelings. 

Need we say, brethren, with what horror we received the news of the 
atrocious murder which deprived your nation of its chief magistrate? 

We had watched the course of that great and good man; we had seen 
him raised, in the providence of God, to be the liberator of an oppressed 
race, and, after years of war, preparing to be the pacificator of his coun- 
try, as full of clemency in the hour of the triumph of his cause as he had 
been steady in carrying on the deadly struggle. We were rejoicing with 
him and with you that at last peace was dawning again on your country, 
when suddenly we were called to mourn and weep with you. 

May God sustain you in this national bereavement, and make all your 
aflictions fruitful of good for your people ! 

As to Abraham Lincoln, he neither hved nor died in vain. A Christian 



COMMITTEES. 239 

life like his, humbly devoted to the right and to humanity, made great by 

great and good deeds, and crowned with a martyr's crown, adds to the 

moral wealth of mankind, is an immortal honor to your nation, and an 

evidence of the truth and power of our common faith such as no words 

could ever give. 

By order, and in the name, of the Waldensian Synod. 

Leok Pilatte, the President. 
May, 1865. 

Rev. Mr. Langwortliy, from the committee on Nominations, 
reported as follows : — 

COMMITTEE OK MIKISTEKIAL SUPPORT. 

Hon. Edward D. Holton, of Wisconsin; Rev. Hiram Elmer, of Mich- 
igan; Eev. Edwin K. Lewis, of Illinois; Marshall S. Scudder, Esq., of 
Massachusetts; Dea. Selden M. Pratt, of Connecticut; Eev. William 
Salter, d. d., of Iowa; David S. Williams, Esq., of 'New York. 

C03OIITTEE ON be:n^eyolent societies. 

Eev. William A. Stearns, D.D., of Massachusetts; Eev. Joel H. Lins- 
ley, D.D., of Connecticut; Eev. Wooster Parker, of Maine; Eev. Jere- 
miah Butler, of New York; Eev. Calvin B. Cady, of Vermont; Martin 
Wright, of Illinois; Eev. Henry A. Miner, of Wisconsin. 

Rev. Dr. Hopkins, of Massachusetts, asked to be excused 
from serving as chairman of the committee on Collegiate and 
Theological Education, and by vote of the Council he was ex- 
cused, and, on the recommendation of the nominating commit- 
tee, Rev. Seth Sweetser, d. d., of Massachusetts, appointed in 
his place. 

Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, of New York, in behalf of the 
Messrs. Hook, organ-builders, tendered an invitation to the 
Council to attend an exhibition of their last and best organ at 
the Church of the Immaculate Conception, to-morrow, at five 
o'clock. 

Mr. Bowen, of New York, from the committee on the Estab- 
lishment of a Congregational Church in the city of Washington, 
submitted the following resolution : — ' 

Besohed, That the authorities of the American Congregational Union 
be advised and requested to take into consideration the importance of a 
well-sustained Congregational church in the city of Washington, and 
having ascertained what facilities there are for the estabhshment of such 
a church, and what aid will be necessary, to institute such arrangements, 



240 STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 

according to their best judgment and discretion, for building or purchas- 
ing a suitable edifice in tbe national capital, in which a Congregational 
church may maintain the preaching of the gospel and the public worship 
of God. 

Eev. Dr. Antjersoi^, of Massachusetts. It would be rather conven- 
ient if that resolution could lie on the table for a little while. There is 
another object, not in conflict with this, and yet upon which it might be 
well to consult before this matter is brought before the Council. 

No objection being made, the resolution was laid on the 
table. 

The committee on the State of the Country were then called 
upon for their report, and it was read by Rev. Truman M. 
Post, D.D., of Missouri, the chairman, as follows: — 

Wliereas, In the beginnings of our national history, the God of our 
fathers brought them, the confessors of civil and religious liberty, to 
these shores, and gave to them to plant the germs of a free Christian 
civilization for a new world ; and, 

Wliereas, After the lapse of more than two centimes, during which 
that civilization has extended over vast regions, and to the shores of the 
Western Ocean; and at the close of a terrible civil war, we, the repre- 
sentatives of churches adhering to the religious faith and order of those 
fathers, and witnesses in our times of the marvelous judgments and 
deliverances of God, have been gathered by his hand, from the breadth 
of a continent, to this cradle of our national life, as a ISTational Eccle- 
siastical Council, in a crisis of solemn moment for the future of our 
country and the kingdom of God: we, therefore, feel it befitting the 
capacity in which we are assembled, and the hour in which we stand, to 
make the following utterances in regard to our country in this juncture 
of its history. 

rirst of all, humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God in 
contrite acknowledgment of the righteousness of his awful judgments 
aflaicting our entire people, we yet record our grateful trust in his in- 
finite mercy and everlasting truth, and we do in his presence this day, 
thus 

Besolve, First, That for the deliverance of our nation from the insur- 
gent and anarchical power that treacherously and remorselessly sought 
its life ; for the preservation of our Union and of the integrity of our 
territory; for the triumph of right over wrong, of liberty over slavery, 
and of lawful government over usurpation ; for the redemption — 
though at a terrible cost — of our country from the curse of slavery, 
and for the emancipation of four millions of our fellow-men from bond- 
age; for the faith and hope, the intrepidity and endurance, given to our 
people in the days of calamity; for their patient and unstinted sacrifice 
of blood and treasure for the right, and their unwearied labor and liber- 
ality in works of Christian sj'^miDathy and beneficence; and for the final, 



STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 241 

crQwning factory granted to our arms; we do this day ascribe praise and 
glory to the Lord of hosts. TVe also render thanks to the Lord that he 
has given to the members of our government — administrative and 
legislative — a faith that has never despaired of the republic, and a 
patience, courage, and sagacity that have not only triumphantly upborne 
us in the agonism of this rebellion, but guided us safely through compli- 
cations threatening us with foreign war. 

TVe ofler thanks to our brave defenders, by land and sea, whose hero- 
ism has, through the hand of the Lord, achieved for us the victory; and 
we invoke for them, living or lying with the glorious dead, the love and 
honor, and, for the widows and orphans of those who have fallen, the 
generous protection and fostering care, of a grateful people; and we 
regard the rendering of this in the light of a most sacred debt of the 
republic. 

jResolved, That we profoundly sympathize with the grief and horror 
of the nation at the assassination of its late beloved chief magistrate, 
Abraham Lixcolist, and with that sentiment of our countrymen and 
of the civilized world which now places him among the foremost in the 
ranks of the martyrs for liberty and humanity in the history of mankind. 

JResolved, That we extend to his honored successor. President Andrew 
Johnson, assurances of our earnest sympathy and hearty co-operation 
in the momentous and arduous work devolved on him, by God, of the 
restoration of order and tranquillity to the country after the shock and 
ruin of this war, and of reconstruction, where needed, on the eternal 
principles of truth, liberty, and justice ; and of so closing up the bloody 
gulf of this rebelUon that neither treason nor ambition shall ever re- 
open, it. 

Besolved, That we regard rebellion against a government so just, be- 
nign, and beneficent as ours ; so incorporated with the essential rights of 
man and the hopes of hmnan liberty; so created and administered by 
the people for themselves, and sheltering a prosperity so vast and so 
brilliant; as a crime transcending the enormity of treason recorded in 
the history of other countries, or of conspiracy against other forms of 
political order ; as a crime against freedom, civilization, and human 
nature itself; and we feel that it is due from our government in its final 
adjudication upon this highest of crimes, that, while blending mercy 
with justice, it shall so deal with treason that the sense of its guiltiness 
be not impaired, and that of the majesty of law and the divine sanction 
of legitimate government be sustained in the mind of the nation. 

Eesolvedy That wrongs committed against our people and our soldiers, 
beyond the measure of the laws of war, — such as assassination, arson, 
introduction of pestilence, the massacre of caj)tives, and the deliberate 
and systematic slow murder of tens of thousands of prisoners by ex- 
posure and starvation, — are crimes that can find no shelter under the 
pretext of being " political offences," and are beyond the pale of amnes- 
ties, challenging upon their authors, whenever, and wherever lawfully 
convicted, justice from our own government as well as the wrath of 
Heaven. 

16 



242 STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 

Besolved, That we regard the late civil war as tlie judgment of Heaven 
upon slavery, and upon a nation in complicity with its mighty wrongs; 
a judgment punishing our practical infraction of our social and pohtical 
life-principles, and demonstrating that such infraction is national suicide. 

Hesolved, That justice, honor, the maintenance of loyal control in the 
lately revolted States, and the safety of the nation, and gratitude for 
their eminent miUtary and other services rendered during the war, im- 
peratively require that we deal in a spirit of Christian sympathy and 
charity, and of a generous humanity, with a race held by this people 
two hundred years in bondage, and now thrust upon the perils and trials 
of new liberty ; and that we see to it that they be protected and fortified 
in their new status by intellectual and religious culture, and the rights 
of the elective franchise, and all the privileges of freemen. 

Hesolved, That while we hail with gratitude the fact, that, by the 
removal of slavery, and the social and ecclesiastical conditions allied with 
it, vast regions are newly opened to a pure and free gospel, we, more- 
over, believe that by this war the mind of the nation at large, having 
been stirred to its depths by passion and suffering and the manifest 
tokens of a present God and a divine government in human affairs, has 
been thereby prepared for profounder convictions of Christian truth, and 
larger effusions of the Holy Spirit, and for a vaster religious movement 
than in the past. 

Hesolved,, That we also at the same time recognize with solicitude the 
hazard, that from the disturbance or dissolution of old order, and from 
the shock given to former habitudes and ideas, and from new practices 
and modes of thought and feeling generated by the war, conditions of the 
popular mind may arise, that, unless illumined and restrained and guided 
by education and Christian truth, may project us upon courses wild, rev- 
olutionary, and ruinous. 

Besolved, therefore. That in view of the above facts, we regard the 
present as a crisis in this nation's life, demanding the immediate api^li- 
ance of the most effective means of education and evangelization in our 
power, and that amid the agencies, creative and organic, of social and 
political reconstruction on the eternal foundations of Eight and Liberty 
and Truth, we regard as most effective and beneficent the religious Faith 
and Order of our Forefathers, — agencies primordial to our national life, 
and approved in history as the most powerful of vitalizing and conserva- 
tive forces; and we therefore deem it as due to the perpetuity of our 
national well-being, that the chiu-ches which inherit that Faith and Order 
should endeavor to diffuse them throughout the extent of our country, 
and especially to those sections now in social and political ruin. 

JResolved, That we who are now placed on this hight of history, and 
who have been permitted to behold great and terrible things which oui 
fathers have not seen, having emerged from the stormy deeps of a civil 
war, and standing on the verge of a vast and mysterious continent of 
the future, do this day lift the psalm of thanksgiving where our fathers 
lifted it, mingling, as did theirs, with the roar of the Atlantic surge, to 
Him that sitteth King and Lord for evermore; and we commit our be- 



STATE OF THE COUXTRY. 243 

loved country to him in humble prayer, that as he has been the God of 
our fathers, so he will be our God and the God of our children and our 
children's children, — even till above our national starry emblem shall 
be seen in heaven the sign of the second coming of the Son of man. 
Signed, T. M. Post, J. C. Webster, 

Seth May, A. Fish, 

James D. Bell, E. D. Holto?^, 

A. C. Baestotv, a. B. Kobbixs, 

Dudley E. Wheeeer, Charles Seccombe, 
Henry Morris, S. C. Pomeroy, 

O. E. Daggett, . E. M. Le^^is, 

J. M. Holmes, L. P. Fisher, 

Ed^^ard Hawes, Geo. H. Atetxson, 

Abxer H. Bryaxt, W. W. Crawford, 
Edwin Johnson, Milan Harris, 

J. A. TH03IE, Committee. 

Eev. Mr. Sayage, of Hlinois. We all of us believe that our beloved 
President, Abraham Lincoln, was made what he was largely by the 
prayers of God's people ; and I feel that we ought, in connection with 
this report, to unite in special prayer for President Johnson. 

Eev. Mr. Allen, of Massachusetts, ^o one admires more the com- 
prehensive wisdom of that report than I do; no one was more gratified 
at the various tributes which were rendered to the different classes who 
were mentioned in it than I was ; but there is one class, it seems to me, 
that has been neglected, that should have the most earnest tribute of this 
body; and that is, the women of our country, whose patriotism, whose 
energy, whose fidelity, whose humanity, whose beneficence, have been 
unparalleled in the history of the world. [Loud applause.] I hope 
that a resolution may be incorporated with the rest, significant of that 
wonderful part of our history and the history of the world. 

Eev. Henry Ward Beecher, of iSTew York. I am very thankful 
for those resolutions, — for every word in them; I only ask that there 
be more such. And especially one resolution, which should cover a 
ground which I think has not even been alluded to. There have been 
thousands and thousands of loyal men in all the rebellious States, who 
have taken their lives in their hands, and have endured incalculable 
misery. They have been chronic martyrs in this great cause. We 
ought not to forget them. Besides that, it seems to me, now that the 
rebellion is broken, that the common people of the South, who have been 
duped and deceived, by their ignorance made the easy creatures of their 
leaders, ought to receive from us some ass»rance of kindness, of hope- 
fulness, that they may not feel that there is rancor in our hearts toward 
them. While their leaders should be given to justice, it seems to me 
that we ought to express a kind and sympathetic feeling toward those 
who have been misled by them in the South. With a recognition of the 
loyal citizens of the South, and also some kind remembrance of the 
common people, I know not how that report could be bettered. 



244 STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 

Bev. Br. ItiRK, of Massachusetts. I would move that the report be 
referred back to the committee. There may be some other matters to 
be rectified, which would be brought to the attention of the committee, 
if it were recommitted. For instance, it seems to me there ought to be 
some recognition of the vast amount of work performed in the army by 
volunteers, for it was invaluable in its. influence upon the soldiers and 
the nation. And then, moreover, I would suggest whether we are not 
bound to have some reference to our friends in foreign lands, — such 
men as the Eev. Dr. Raleigh and the Eev. Dr. Massie, who are with us, 
and who fought our battles in the midst of the opposition of our enemies 
in Europe. [Loud api^lause.] 

Rev. E. P. Marvest, of Massachusetts. There is another suggestion. 
I have heard nothing special about our colored friends at the South, and 
their remarkable loyalty and fidelity; but if there are any persons in 
this country to whom we are peculiarly indebted, under God, for our 
success, it is to them. 

Rev. Dr. Linsley, of Connecticut. I want to know if this report is 
presented as the unanimous action of the committee? 

Rev. Dr. Post, of Missouri. I will answer that. It was the report 
of all we could get together this morning. I may be permitted to state, 
Mr. Moderator, that there is much that ought to be said that can not be 
said there, unless you write a history of the war. (Laughter and ap- 
plause.) We can not pay tribute to everybody to whom we owe it, for, I 
thank the great Griver of helpers to us, we have those to whom we are 
indebted all the world over. Are not the women of this country in- 
cluded among " the people " to whom we render thanks for their liber- 
ality and for their sympathy? I had in view the Christian Commission 
in the words I employed there ; I could not spread out the thought mth- 
out making a report to which I believed your patience would be inade- 
quate. 

Rev. Mr. Thome, of Ohio. As a member of the committee, I desire 
to say, that I hope action will be taken now. "We shall never be better 
able to act with unanimity and cordiality than we are at this time. I 
cordially join in the suggestion, that after the adoption of the report, we 
unite in prayer. 

The Moderator (Hon. C. Gr. Hammond). The chair would suggest, 
that it is perfectly proper to adopt the resolutions ofiered, if Dr. Kirk 
will withdraw his motion, and then, if other parties wish to introduce 
these other topics, they can do so. 

Dr. Kirk said he would withdraw his motion, his object having been 
accomplished. 

Hon. Mr. Pomeroy, o:^ Kansas. It is not to be supposed that in a 
single resolution or two resolutions the committee could report what 
would be acceptable to everybody. Our only effort was to hit upon 
some general topics on which we could all agree, and report them to the 
Council. The fact is, the report would suit me better if we spoke out a 
little more plainly about hanging somebody. [Applause.] I am very 
willing to mingle our justice with mercy to the common people of the 



INVITATION FROM THE PILGRIM SOCIETY. 245 

South, as has been suggested by our friend Henry Ward Beecher; but 
it does seem to me it is time somebody was hung. (Applause.) Some 
wholesome hanging, I think, would have settled this question in the 
minds of the American people long ago ; and I do not believe that a 
convention, even of this character, composed largely of clergymen, — 
men who love forgiveness and mercy, — would be harmed if it adopted a 
little stiffer resolution on this question. I will only say, that I yielded 
to this report, on that question, for the sake of harmony, because I 
thought everybody would go for it; I never supposed that anybody 
would want to temper it more mildly. If the report is adopted, I will 
take it upon myself to offer a resolution expressing my own views on the 
subject. 

Kev. H. W. Beecher, of Kew York. I would inquire if other mat- 
ters can be added to the report, after it is adopted? 

The Moderator. Yes, sir. 

The question Tvas then put, and the report adopted. 

Rev. Mr. Dexter read the following invitation from the 
trustees of the Pilgrim Society, Plymouth, which was ac- 
cepted : — 

To the Congregational Council: — 

Gentlemen, — In anticipation of your intended visit to Plymouth, 
June 22d, in behalf of the trustees of the Pilgrim Society, you are 
invited to visit Pilgrim Hall. It will be open on that day for your re- 
ception, and a committee will be appointed to accompany the different 
sections to places of interest. 

(Signed) Timothy Gordon, 

One of the Trustees. 
Boston, June 19. 

Rev. Mr. Langworthy, of the committee on Nominations, 
reported the following committees, heretofore ordered, and the 
reports were adopted : — 

COMMITTEE ON BOOKS AND TRACTS. 

Eev. Henry Ward Beecher, of New York; Eev. Leonard Bacon, D.D., 
of Connecticut; Lowell Mason, jr., of New Jersey. 

COManTTEE ON COMMUNICATIONS FROM ITALY. 

Kev. Edward N. Kirk, d.d., of Massachusetts; Kev. Julian M. Stur- 
tevant, d. d., of IlUnois; Kev. Edward Beecher, d. d., of Illinois. 

Rev. Mr. Quint, of the Business Committee, offered a report, 
recommending that the business for to-morrow be the hearing 



246 TITLE OF 

of the report of the committee to whom was referred the 
report on the Evangelization of the West and South ; that the 
whole day be given to its discussion, if necessary ; that all 
the speakers be limited to twelve minutes ; that, if the discus- 
sion be not closed at five o'clock, an evening session be held, 
at eight o'clock ; and that the consideration of the subject be 
ended to-morrow. 

The report was adopted. 

The moderator then called for the report of the committee 
to whom was referred the communication from the Massachu- 
setts Convention of Congregational Ministers ; and it was read 
by the chairman, Rev. A. H. Quint, of Massachusetts, as fol- 
lows : — 

EEPOET. 

" The Massachusetts Convention of Congregational Ministers " re- 
quests this Council " to use such language in their proceedings as a 
Trinitarian Congregational Council, as shall recognize the fact that there 
are Unitarian and other Congregational churches in this Commonwealth." 
In addition to this communication there has appeared in the public prints, 
though not laid before this body, a protest against the terms of the call 
for the assembling of this Council, as imperiling interests valuable to 
the members of a body styled a " Ministerial Conference," in whose be- 
half it is signed. The eminent standing and character of the persons 
who sincerely feel that a real grievance would be occasioned by the 
course against which they protest, as well as the respect due to the 
denomination which this Council represents, requires a just and deliberate 
avowal of the grounds upon which we use the title of " Congregational 
Churches of the United States." 

Our denomination is the same with that of the first churches of N'ew 
England. We trace back our lineage in an uninterrupted line to that 
period. The same fellowship has been perpetuated, based upon a par- 
ticular system of doctrines and polity, to which we now hold. The 
denomination which we represent has thus had a distinct and recognized 
existence, as clear as history can make any historical fact, by all requisite 
limitations and declarations. 

This denomination has always had the distinctive name of " Congre- 
gational churches." 

It is needless to quote authorities ; for, from the days of John Cotton, 
the name Congregational was used to designate a particular denomina- 
tion, of a faith well defined and now unchanged, as well as a peculiar 
polity. 'Nov did any others, so far as we can learn, though holding the 
same polity, assume that name while not belonging to this denomina- 
tion. This distinctive denominational name is still our heritage from the 
fathers. 



TITLE OF " CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES." 247 

It is true that some other chlirches now hold the same polity, in a 
greater or less degree of strictness, while differing from ns in points of 
doctrine. In addition to some Unitarian churches. Baptists, Tree- Will 
Baptists, and Universalists hold similar views of church polity. But 
it is an historical fact, that in America these denominations came into 
existence after the denomination which we represent had acquired an 
undisputed right to the title which we still hold. 

Some of the churches formerly in our denomination became separated 
from it early in the present century, by reasons of convictions which led 
them to renounce the doctrinal principles which were and are essential 
to the fellowship of this denomination, as declared by our platforms, and 
established by uninterrupted practice from the days of our fathers. But 
the separation of a section in Massachusetts, where its chief strength lay, 
which, in 1820, numbered, so far as can be. learned, but a small portion 
of the denomination, does not, it seems to us, deprive the old and recog- 
nized denomination of its ancestral name. That some separating churches 
may retain the same kind of government does not affect the fact that they 
do not belong to the denomination which has always kept its distinctive 
title. IN'or does such a secession or separation render it at all necessary 
that the denomination should either give up its old name, or add any 
distinctive prefix. "When the Wesleyans left the Church of England, the 
latter was not called upon to modify its title. When the Protestant 
Methodists separated from the Methodist Episcopal Church, that church 
took no new name. When several bodies of Presbyterians were sepa- 
rated from the Presbyterian Church in the United States, that body re- 
tained unquestioned its old designation, although the seceding bodies 
held the same views of church polity. The separating portion might 
well adopt a new title; but the denomination remaining needed no 
change, nor could any be rightfully demanded. 

We find it also to be a fact, that the churches, in whose behalf complaint 
is made, have as a denomination, dehberately adopted a new title. In 
their oflacial capacity, a recent convention, representing the Unitarian 
churches, wholly ignored the term Congregational, and, as " Christian 
churches of the Unitarian faith," organized a permanent body styled 
" The National Conference of Unitarian Churches." It is thus evident 
that there can be no conflict whatever to cause confusion or misunder- 
standing between the two denominations. 

We are also unable to find that the Unitarian churches require ad- 
herence to the Congregational platform as a condition of denominational 
fellowship. Many of their churches are said to be Independent, not 
Congregational. In some places church organizations have been utterly 
abandoned, as seems to have been recognized in the call for their recent 
convention, which asked delegates from societies as well as churches. 

While stating that as a denomination we hold a denominational name 
to which no other lays claim, and which the parties complaining do not 
assert belongs to any other denomination, we are far from denying that 
there are other particular churches which maintain the same pohty with 
ourselves. This fact was distinctly recognized in the call under which 



248 TITLE OF 

this Council is assembled. That call was addressed to " those Congre- 
gational churches in the United States which are in recognized fellowship 
and co-operation through the general associations, conferences, or con- 
ventions, in the several States." How far this may extend, it is clear 
that it recognizes that there are Congregational churches other than these. 
We do not see how any doubt could exist as to what churches were in- 
tended. It would be idle to say that any churches are in recognized fel- 
lowship through the Massachusetts Convention of Congregational Minis- 
ters. Indeed, the fact that only those of our denomination have appeared 
shows that the call was suflS.ciently understood. 

We see no reason, therefore, why we should prefix the term Trinitarian 
to the name of our denomination. We are no more Trinitarian than we 
are Unitarian. If we prefix Trinitarian to distinguish us from Unitarians 
and Universalists, we must take some other ]3refixes to distinguish us 
from Baptists and Eree-Will Baptists. We see no need of either. 

But inasmuch as it appears that some of those who protest have par- 
ticularly in view a fear lest, if they adhere to the name of their denomina- 
tion as recently oflScially promulgated, and we adhere to the name of 
ours, some rights of theirs to property, held under the name of Congre- 
gational, may be jeopardized, we do now declare that we should deem it 
dishonorable and unchristian to interfere with any of their present rights 
to funds or other property under whatever name their holders act, or to 
attempt to pervert funds given for one kind of religious doctrine to the 
use of another, whether in colleges, churches, or other bodies. And we 
distinctly put on record, that, from our retaining our old name of " Con- 
gregational," without any modification or prefix, — as we intend to do, ■ — 
there should be no inference whatever drawn to the legal prejudice of 
any bodies not in our fellowship, as to any funds or other property to 
which those bodies lay claim. 

We are happy to know that so many of these churches still retain the 
old pohty. And whenever their convictions of duty will allow them to 
stand on the old platform of faith, of their and our fathers, gladly will 
we feel that we are one again. 



Eespectfully submitted. 



Alonzo H. Quint, 

W. T. EusTis, Jr., }■ Committee, 

Asa Freeiman-, 



Rev. Dr. Patton, of Illinois. I move to strike out that portion of 
the report which says, " We are no more Trinitarian than we are Unita- 
rian." It is sure to be misunderstood in some quarters. That is the 
only objection. 

This motion was not seconded, and the question being put, 
the report was adopted unanimously, and, on motion of Rev. 
Mr. Eustis, of Connecticut, it was ordered, that it be tran- 
scribed, and forwarded to the Massachusetts Convention of 
Congregational Ministers. 



CHURCH IN WASHINGTON. 249 



A CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE. 

Rev. Dr. Wolcott, of the committee on Business, presented 
the following resolution : — 

Sesolved, That the Kational Congregational Council are pleased to 
learn that the American Congregational Society has undertaken to erect 
a Congregational House in the city of Boston, as a suitable memorial 
of the present meeting, which shall serve as a secure repository for our 
Congregational literature, in a ^N'ational Library, — as a place of resort 
for our brethren, coming to this ancient home of the denomination and 
the fathers, and also as a convenient center of operations, designed to 
promote a knowledge of our principles and polity, and the unity and fel- 
lowshii? of our churches throughout the land; and while this object, 
involving an outlay of ^100,000, is commended first of all to the enter- 
prising citizens of Boston and vicinity, with whom it originated, it is also 
cordially commended to the liberal co-operation of our churches through- 
out the land. 

Rev. Dr. Anderson, of Massachusetts. Mr. Moderator, — I do not 
think, at this stage of the business, that it is proper to enter into any 
exiDlanation with regard to this object. I ought, however, to explain 
why I objected to the passage of the resolution proposed just now. I 
had been detained from the meeting, to discharge the duty of chairman 
of a committee from the American Congregational Association, and on 
coming into the house, I was told that there was a proposition coming 
before this body to raise $100,000 for a church in the city of Washing- 
ton, and very likely it might be well to have some understanding before 
these two propositions came before your body. On further explanation, 
however, I became convinced that there was no reason for objecting to 
that proposition at all. In regard to this resolution, I do not propose to 
make any remarks upon it at the present time, but would propose that it 
be referred to a special committee, to report to this body. 

The resolution was so referred. 

CHURCH IN WASHINGTON. 

The resolution in regard to the establishment of a Congrega- 
tional Church in Washington, was then taken from the table. 

Eev. Dr. Sturteyant, of Illinois. I only wish to say, that there is 
a very serious doubt in my mind in regard to entering into this matter 
of church-building with a view to any particular place, — even Wash- 
ington city. The question is, whether it would not be much better to 
take up the matter as a whole, — the subject of church-building in Wash- 
ington included, — than to take up each place separately. I can not 
obtain the consent of my own mind, at this present moment, to vote for 
that proposition, in the shape in which it is. 

Eev. Dr. Budington, of Kew York. Let me call the attention of 



250 CIVIL RIGHTS OF REBELS. 

Dr. Sturtevant to this fact: that the passage of the resolution does not 
commit us to any thing of the kind. I share with him in the feeling to 
which he has given utterance, and I should have spoken to the same pur- 
port if there had been any thing in the resolution conflicting with the 
sentiments which he has expressed. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio, the resolution was 
referred to the committee on Church-Building. 
Adjourned. 

SIXTH DAT, TUESDAY, JUKE 20. 

The Council was called to order at 9 o'clock, a.m., and 
opened by prayer from the moderator. 

The journal of yesterday was read by the scribe and ap- 
proved. 

CIVIL RIGHTS or REBELS. 

Rev. Dr. Post, of Missouri. It was the tacit understanding yester- 
day, when the resolutions from the committee on the State of the Coun- 
try were adopted, that I should prepare two or three more which should 
be subjoined. I have prepared three resolutions for that purpose; but I 
offer them upon my own personal responsibility, not having had time to 
consult with the committee. 

The Moderator stated that under the rule the resolutions must come 
before the Council through the Business Committee. 

On motion, that rule was suspended. 

Eev. Dr. Post resumed. These resolutions relate, first to two classes 
of society in the revolted States to which the former resolutions made no. 
special allusion, and were therefore objected to. There was also objec- 
tion because the Sanitary Commission and Christian Commission were 
not alluded to. That I have regarded as being embraced in the sub- 
stance of the resolutions. I have thought it proper to add a resolution 
in regard to the services and sacrifices of the women of the country ; not 
because I did not before design to embrace them among the peo^Dle of 
the country. I felt that it was as impossible to separate the services 
and heroic devotion of our women from our people, in this war, as to 
separate the sun from the light of day. But as the resolutions were not 
understood as distinctly ascribing credit and expressing gratitude to this 
portion of our people, I felt that it would be my pleasure and the pleas- 
ure of the Convention that there should be such a distinct recognition; 
and I have therefore introduced a resolution to that eflect. I should feel 
exceedingly sorry, — I should feel ashamed, living where I have been dur- 
ing the years of this war, witnessing what I have witnessed of the ser- 



CIVIL co>:dition of rebels. 251 

vices of the ladies of our State, which have rendered dearer to me the 
dearest friends I have on earth, if I could be supposed, in this grave body 
and in this grave crisis, to present resolutions which should omit proper 
mention and honorable mention of this portion of our brave people. 
Kev. Dr. Thompson, of JS^ew York. At the request of Dr. Post, I 
will be to him what Hobab was to Moses, — I will be eyes imto him. 
The resolutions are these : — 

Eesolved, That we extend to the inhabitants of the late revolted States 
who have been snared into this rebellion through ignorance, surprise, or 
overbearing violence of public sentiment, or forced by the power of a 
merciless conscription, our sympathy and commiseration, and our readi- 
ness to welcome them back to civil fellowship and fraternity under the old 
flag. 

Besolved, That those who have maintained steadfast loyalty amid gen- 
eral treason and revolt, undaunted by popular rage or despotic violence, 
braving, in the cause of the country, the terrors of imprisonment, torture, 
robbery, and starvation, and of death itself, rank amid the noblest heroes 
and martyrs of this war, and deserve lasting honor and gratitude. 

Eesolved, That the heroic devotion and self-sacrifice of the loyal women 
of the country, during this war, will ever be gratefully remembered as 
having been of vital elficacy to the triumph of our cause, and will excite 
the admiration of history, as examples of moral beauty and sublimity, 
unsurpassed in human story. 

Rev. Mr. Quint, of Mass. I wish that first resolution, was expressed 
a little differently, — at least, the latter part of it. It seems to me a little 
too strong. For one, I am not prepared to now welcome back those 
people who have fought against us, to full fellowship. Persons so easily 
snared through ignorance are not the persons to be welcomed back im- 
mediately to full civil rights. If they are, as sure as the sun shines to- 
day, they will again become the tools of those leaders, again be snared 
in just the same way, and again sujDport the same sort of men. They are 
unfit for civil rights until they are a little more enlightened and intelligent. 
Those men have been fighting through the war against us. They are 
brave men, — for I have seen something of their work, — but they are 
uncommonly stupid and ignorant. They do not know any thing near as 
much as the blacks there. I say that until they repent, they are unfit 
to come back and be trusted with a vote. Every one of this class ought 
to be disfranchised for a reasonable time. [Applause.] I move to strike 
out the last clause. 

Hon. Mr. Ha^oioxd, of Illinois. Why not let it read, " upon evidence 
of repentance " ? 

Rev. Mr. Quint. Because I want their repentance to have years long- 
enough to prove itself genuine. [Applause.] 

Hon. Mr. Hammond. " On evidence of genuine repentance," then? 

■ Rev. Mr. Quint. iN'o, — that is not enough; I want it fixed that that 

evidence shall be by waiting long enough to make the thing clear and safe. 



252 FINANCIAL EEPORT. 

Rev. Dr. Post, of Missouri. I never designed to convey the idea that 
they should be restored to citizenship or the rights of franchise. I see that 
the resolution may be misunderstood, and I will strike out the word " civil." 

Eev. Mr. Quint. I will not object to that, for one, although it goes 
terribly against my grain ever to see one of those scoundrels under the 
old flag again. [Applause.] 

Eev. Mr. Bliss, of Tennessee. It seems to me that even with that 
modification the idea will be that after all they are to be restored to 
general citizenship. Upon this subject I think the Council should give 
no uncertain sound. The language, even as it now stands, conveys 
the idea that we are willing to welcome them back at once to all the 
rights of citizenship. That we are not ready to do. If I understand the 
tone of public sentiment, we are not ready to welcome back any man who 
has borne arms or held a civil or military commission against the gov- 
ernment of the United States. [Applause.] The amendments to the 
Constitution of Missouri, and the amendments to the Constitution of 
Tennessee, from which State I now come, prescribe a term of years be- 
fore even the rank and file, with all the evidence of repentance they can 
bring, can be restored again to the right of sufirage. [Applause.] This 
is as it should be; and we are safe in no other way. [Applause.] Would 
that these views might ring through the nation, that we must by a term 
of years give space for repentance ; and even then let there be no general 
law by which they shall come back, but let evidence be required of 
genuine repentance. [Eenewed applause.] By this course alone can we 
be safe. I would suggest, therefore, that there be an amendment em- 
bodying in the resolution the idea that a suitable term of years should 
be given as space for repentance before these men should be allowed the 
full rights of citizenship. 

A member moved to postpone the further consideration of 
this resolution indefinitely. 

The motion was rejected by a decisive vote. 

Rev. Mr. Allen, of Massachusetts, suggested the addition of 
a saving clause at the end, " the right of the citizen to fran- 
chise excepted." 

Dea. Eddy, of Massachusetts, moved to refer the resolutions 
to a special committee. 

Rev. Dr. Dutton moved to amend by referring it to the same 
committee that had been formerly appointed upon the State of 
the Country. 

The motion to refer to that committee was agreed to. 

On motion of Hon. Mr. Douglas, of Connecticut, Rev. Mr. 
Bliss, of Memphis, Tennessee, was added to the committee. 

Rev. Dr. Todd, of Massachusetts, suggested that this resolu- 
tion should be placed last of the three reported this morning. 



RIGHTS OF MEMBERS. 253 

riKANCIAL EEPOET. 

Dea. Stoddard, from the committee on Finance, reported that the 
amount of funds received from 360 churches was $3,972, of which 176 
Western churches contributed $1,479, and 184 Eastern churches, $2,493; 
being an average of $9 to each Western, and $13 to each Eastern 
church; the dividing line being an imaginary meridian line through cen- 
tral ISTew York. The total amount of traveling expenses was $7,818; 
double the amount received. The committee asked for further instruc- 
tions as to the distribution of the fund. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Thompson, the matter was referred 
to a select committee, which, on behalf of the Nominating Com- 
mittee, he named as follows : — 

NEW COMMITTEE ON" FINAN^CE. 

Hon. Charles G. Hammond, of Illinois; Hon. Amos C. Barstow, of 
Rhode Island; Asahel Finch, Esq., of Wisconsin; Daniel S. Williams, 
Esq., of K"ew York; Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, of Xew York; Hon. 
Henry P. Haven, of Connecticut; Hon. Samuel Williston, of Massachu- 
setts; Dea. Samuel Holmes, of JSTew York; Hon. Douglas Putnam, of 
Ohio; Dea. Sherman S. Barnard, of Michigan; Dea. Simon Page, of 
Maine; Rev. Samuel Gr. Buckingham, of Massachusetts; Dea. Philo 
Carpenter, of Illinois (subsequently added). 

The committee, as named, was agreed to. 

C0M]MITTEE ON AMERICAN CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 

Rev. Mr. Langworthy, from the committee on Nominations, 
reported the following names for the committee on American 
Congregational Association : — 

Rev. Christopher Cushing, of ]!!Torth Brookfield, Massachusetts; Rev. 
Ezekiel Russell, D. D., of Massachusetts; Dea. John Smith, of Andover, 
Massachusetts; Rev. Samuel D. Cochran, of Iowa; Rev. Samuel G-. 
Wright, of Illinois; Hon. Walter Booth, of Connecticut. 

ON BOOKS AND TRACTS, — ADDITIONAL. 

Rev. Jacob Ide, D. d., of West Medway, Massachusetts; Timothy 
D wight, Esq., of Beloit, Wisconsin. 

The report was adopted. 

RIGHTS OF MEMBERS. 

Rev. Mr. Quint stated, in explanation of the action of the 
Business Committee, that that committee had no discretion as 
to admitting subjects proposed, but were required by the rule 
to report all matters referred to them to the Convention. 



254 SUFFRAGE. 

A member moved to amend the rule, so as to leave it to the 
discretion of the committee what they should report. 

Hon. Mr. Hammond, of Illinois. That will never do. We are all 
elected as peers, and each has a right to bring before the Council what 
he thinks best, upon his own individual responsibility. This committee 
was only permitted to be appointed on that condition. If we are foolish, 
we can not help it; and the churches who sent us are responsible. 

Eev. Mr. Quint. The committee do not ask for a. change in the rule, 
but merely wish to escape censure for reporting unnecessary matters. 

Eev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. If any thing comes before the 
committee which strikes them as particularly foolish, they should say so 
to the gentleman who brings it to them. 

UNTYEESAI. SUFFRAGE. 

Rev. Mr. Quint, from the Business Committee, reported the 
following resolution : — 

Mesolved, That a committee of three be appointed to proceed to Wash- 
ington and present in person to President Johnson the resolutions on 
the State of the Country, and especially that part in relation to the pun- 
ishment of traitors and universal sufirage. 

Hon. Mr. Child, of Massachusetts, moved to lay the resolu- 
tion upon the table ; but withdrew his motion. 

Hon. Mr. Hammond, of Illinois. There are some gentlemen here 
who feel much interested in presenting to the President the resolutions 
on the State of the Country; and I understand that they are going to 
Washington. If we strike out the words " proceed to Washington and," 
so that they shall merely present the resolutions to the President, I think 
there will be no objection to the committee. 

The resolution was amended accordingly. 
Hon. Mr. Child renewed the motion to lay the resolution 
upon the table. 

The motion was rejected. 

Rev. Dr. Beecher, of Illinois, said. I think that the topic men- 
tioned in these resolutions is practically the most important topic be- 
fore this nation, and one upon which every influence that can be ex- 
erted is important to be exerted at this time. I see by the morning 
papers that the proclamation to reorganize the Southern States, by Pres- 
ident Johnson, has gone forth, with reference to at least four States, 
upon the white basis. It is also reasonable to believe that when a 
patriotic man takes a course which appears to be dangerous in its re- 



SUFFRAGE. 255 

suits, there must be some considerations for that course. Upon that 
ground I suspend my judgment with regard to the action of President 
Johnson in the premises. I have been informed, as I suppose credibly, 
that President Johnson supposed he should not be sustained by the pub- 
lic sentiment of the nation, if he proceeded upon any other basis, and that 
he is at least disposed to extend universal suffrage to the colored people. 

I feel that if there is any one thing about which we ought to be solicit- 
ous, it is that this matter of reorganizing these States on the white 
basis shall not go so far that the whole we have gained by the war shall 
virtually slip out of our hands. We are, in my judgment, more in dan- 
ger upon that point than upon any other point whatever. [Applause.] 
And we are bUnd to the interests of the country, if we who have been 
standard-bearers, — for I say that the Congregational body have had 
more sagacity and more prominence in holding up the true principles 
than any other body of men in this country, — if we do not exert the 
moral influence we can exert by sending a committee directly to Presi- 
dent Johnson. If we allow the resolutions to slumber in the pages of a 
newspaper, perhaps President Johnson to the year's end may never see 
them; for he does not read every newspaper that is published. I hope 
that the resolution will pass. 

Rev. Dr. Sturteyaxt, of Illinois. I do not know but I am going to 
make a remark that will throw me into the minority in this Christian 
Council. If it does, I can bear it, for I have been in the minority before. 
I am opposed to the phrase " universal suffrage," occurring in that resolu- 
tion; and nobody can ever make me vote for that. I am in favor of 
striking out from our statute book all disqualifications which depend on 
color. I am in favor of letting the colored man have the same rights as 
any other man has. But I am not in favor of universal suffrage; and I 
suspect that the minority who will be with me, if I am in the minority, 
will be a very respectable one. I shall therefore want the resolution so 
amended that the Convention shall not commit itself for imiversal suffrage 
through this land. Universal sufii-age does not exist in Massachusetts or 
in Connecticut. Both Massachusetts and Connecticut have set a noble 
example, which the whole nation should follow, of the limitation of suf- 
frage to intelligent men, of the hmitation of suffrage to men that can read 
and write their own mother tongue. [Applause.] I want the resolution 
so modified as to be consistent with that view of the case. 

Hon. Mr. Child, of Massachusetts. I hope the Convention will con- 
sider for a moment what is involved in the proposition now before them. 
If President Johnson and his advisers have settled upon a policy that is 
to guide them upon this question of voting in the reconstruction of the 
States, — whether that be right or whether it be wrong, I am not now to 
say, — is it wise for this Council to adopt a resolution to send a delega^ 
tion of its members to arraign — for that is the efiect of it — the decision 
of the government upon such an important question? 

Again, sir; it says, "in favor of universal suffrage; " and to what does 
that apply? It applies to all the people of the rebel States. It proposes 
that this Council should say to the administration, that they should 



256 SUFFRAGE. 

adopt a rule, with regard to these people, admitting them to vote, when 
they could not to-day vote in Massachusetts or in Connecticut. 

I will say that the idea that the word " white " should ever have been 
in the constitutions of these States, I abominate. A man is not to be 
excluded because of the color of his skin, nor is he to be admitted to vote 
because he is black. There are restrictions in Massachusetts. There 
are restrictions in all the States. I think we are going too far in regard 
to this matter. All the States have their different qualifications, — in 
'New York, one; in Pennsylvania another; in Khode Island another; in 
New Hampshire and Vermont, others and different. And now we pro- 
pose to declare the sentiment of this Ecclesiastical Council upon a great 
question of public policy lying at the very foundation of the government. 
I think it would be better to declare great principles without going into 
these details. For one I am not willing to vote for the resolution because 
it involves a principle beyond that adopted even in Massachusetts, and 
far beyond most of the New England States. 

Eev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. There is another view of the ques- 
tion which does not seem to have occurred very clearly in any thing that 
has been uttered here as yet. We are an Ecclesiastical Council. We 
take cognizance of the things that pertain to the kingdom of Christ. We 
have a right to take cognizance here of all moral questions, because what 
is moral is religious. We have a right to say here, in the name of Christ 
and of the New Testament, that God hath made of one blood all nations 
of men to dwell upon all the face of the earth; and that all these distinc- 
tions which rest upon the color of a man's skin, or the straightness or 
kink of his hair, are unchristian and impious. We have a right to say 
that; let us say it. 

But is it our province as an Ecclesiastical Council to interfere in what 
is purely and simply a pohtical question? It is not a question of univer- 
sal right who shall vote in an election to the legislature. The right of 
voting is not a right of human nature. I have known men to come from 
New Hampshire into Connecticut with high-flown ideas of the rights 
of man, and insist upon voting without the six months' residence which 
our laws require, without having become citizens of Connecticut, and 
approach very nearly to a violation of the law in other particulars 
in order to get their vote into the ballot box of Connecticut. If that 
were a universal right of human nature, I could justify such men in a 
measure. But I do not believe that the right to vote is any part 
of the rights of human nature. The right of suffrage is a right 
which society confers upon classes of society. The infant of yesterday 
does not vote; nor does his mother or his nurse vote for him. The right 
to vote in the State of Alabama is a right to be determined by the laws 
and Constitution of Alabama, and we are not to dictate to the President 
of the United States, nor in an ecclesiastical capacity and character are 
we to send a commission to argue with him upon a question of Con- 
stitutional law. I hope this Ecclesiastical Council will not compromise 
its dignity or its authority as a Council of churches of Jesus Christ by 
going into this political question. I agree fully and perfectly with all 



SUFFRAGE. 257 

that has been or can be said in behalf of the right of the negro in the 
Southern States to vote on the same footing and the same terms as the 
white man, and I believe that the salvation of om- country in time to 
come depends upon their attaining that right fully. 

(A member inquired whether this debate was relevant, and the mod- 
erator replied it was.) 

Dr. Bacok resumed: I am speaking against presenting these resolu- 
tions to the President of the United States. In order to avoid the mis- 
constructions which continually arise, I was saying that I am ready to 
concur with everybody here and with every loyal heart in the North, that 
the salvation of the country depends upon the attainment of the right of 
suflDL'age by the black men of the South and upon their standing upon the 
same political level in all respects with the white men of the South. But 
I agree with President Sturtevant fully that this principle of universal 
suffrage is one to which we ought not to commit ourselves. We do not 
believe in it. There is not a mother's child among us that believes in it. 

Eev. Dr. Beecher, of Illinois, interposed and called attention to the 
fact that the resolutions offered yesterday said nothing about universal 
suffrage; and called upon the committee therefore to lay before the 
President something that did not exist. 

The MoDEKATOR explained that it included the resolutions offered this 
morning and referred. 

Rev. Dr. Pattok, of Illinois, suggested the substitution of the phrase 
" impartial suffrage." 

Rev. Dr. Thompson", of New York, moved to strike out the last part 
of the resolution consisting of the words: — "and especially that part in 
relation to the punishment of traitors and universal suffi-age." 

Rev. Dr. Bacok resumed: I agree to that entirely; but I do not agree 
to the idea that we are to tell President Johnson, directly or indirectly, 
that he has mistaken his business and duty and power; and, furthermore, 
I do not agree to the idea of those gentlemen who suppose President 
Johnson to be invested with the power of imperial government over the 
Southern States. Let him give account of himself to God; let him give 
accoimt of himself to the people of the United States; to the House of 
Rei)resentatives, to the Senate if the House of Representatives shall im- 
peach him, and to the Supreme Court of the United States; but let us 
not as an Ecclesiastical Council undertake to guide him, to dictate to him, 
or even to counsel him on a question which is a law question and not a 
religious question, not a question of ethics. 

Andrew Johnson will proceed, if I understand his nature, in the course 
in which he has been organizing the governments of the Southern States 
by the votes of those people, who, under the Constitution and laws of 
those States as they existed prior to the pretended secession, are the 
sovereignty of those States under the Constitution of the United States. 
I believe he agrees with us — I have every reason to believe he agrees with 
us and with every intelligent and loyal man in the behef that the right 
of suffrage must be given to the black people of the Southern States upon 
the same basis and under the same conditions with the white iDeople; but 
17 



258 WESTERN COLLEGIATE EDUCATION. 

he believes that that thing must be done in a legal way, and not done by 
the right of conquest. We ought to be careful how we commit ourselves 
upon questions which are among the deepest and most perplexing and 
disputed questions of constitutional law, now before, or soon to come 
before, not only the Houses of Congress but the Courts for adjudication. 
I have no objection to laying the resolutions upon the State of the Country 
before the President, but I object to proceeding one inch beyond that, to 
give him as an ecclesiastical body counsel upon questions of constitu- 
tional law. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The question recurred upon the resolution, as amended. 
A member moved to lay the resolution upon the table. 
The motion was rejected. 

The resolution, as amended, was then adopted by a decisive 
vote. 

EXCURSIOK TO PLYMOUTH ROCK. 

The committee of Arrangements announced that the train 
would leave for Plymouth at 9^ o'clock on Thursday morning 
instead of the earlier hour before reported. 

i TOBACCO. 

Rev. Mr. Quint reported from the Business Committee the 
following resolution offered by David S. Williams, of Flushing, 
Long Island : — 

" Besohed, That the committee appointed by this Council to consider 
the evil of intemperance be also requested to consider its twin vice, the 
improper use of tobacco, particularly by ministers and church members; 
and in case the said committee shall decide to bring in a report or testi- 
mony against the former evil, they are hereby instructed to bring in at 
the same time some suitable report or testimony against the latter." 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio, the resolution was 
so amended as to leave the subject discretionary with the com- 
mittee, and then referred to the committee on Temperance. 

WESTERN COLLEGIATE EDUCATION. 

Rev. Mr. Quint, from the Business Committee, reported reso- 
lutions regarding the Society in relation to Collegiate Education 
in the West ; which on his motion were referred to the com- 
mittee on Colleges. 



EVANGELIZATION IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 259 



THE STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 

Rev. Mr. Bliss asked and obtained permission, from tlie com- 
mittee appointed to revise the additional resolutions offered 
this morning by Rev. Dr. Post, on the state of the country, to 
report ; and reported the same with a few verbal amendments. 

A member moved to insert the words " or forced." 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The resolutions were then adopted as follows : — 

JResolved, That we extend to the inhabitants of the late revolted States 
who have been snared into this rebellion through ignorance, surprise, or 
overbearing violence of pubUc sentiment, or forced by the power of a 
merciless conscription, our sympathy and commiseration, and our readi- 
ness, after a suitable time has elapsed, to welcome them, on satisfactory 
evidence of loyalty, to civil fellowship and fraternity under, the old flag. 

HesoJved, That those who have maintained steadfast loyalty amid 
general treason and revolt, undaunted by popular rage or despotic vio- 
lence, braving, in the cause of the country, the terrors of imprisonment, 
tortiu'e, robbery, and starvation, and of death itself, rank amid the 
noblest heroes and martyrs of this war, and deserve lasting honor and 
gratitude. 

Besolved, That the heroic devotion and self-sacrifice of the loyal 
women of the country during this war will ever be gratefully remem- 
bered as having been of vital efficacy to the triumph of our cause, and 
will excite the admiration of history as examples of moral beauty and 
sublimity unsurpassed in human story. 



EYAN'GELIZATIOK EST THE WEST AKD SOUTH. 

Rev. Dr. Dutton, from the committee to which was referred 
the Report upon Evangelization in the West and South, read 
the following report : — 

The committee, to whom was referred the Report on Evangelization in 
the West and South, would state to the Council that we have carefully 
examined that report, and have heard many communications from per- 
sons specially acquainted with the West and South which confirm and 
illustrate its positions and reasonings. We commend that report as 
comprehensive, thorough, and able, and move that it be adopted by the 
Council. 

We see no necessity of using the precious time of the Council by 
adding to the facts and arguments presented in the r^ort. We would 



260 EVANGELIZATION IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 

only bring them to a practical issue, by deriving from them, and pre- 
senting for adoption by the Council, certain definite recommendations to 
the churches. We propose, therefore, the following result, namely : 

This isTational Council, in view of the vast and promising fields of 
evangelical labor opened by the rapid growth of our country toward the 
"West, the ]Srorth-west, and on the borders of the Pacific Ocean, espec- 
ially in the mining regions, and opened also by the sublime and awful, 
yet blessed providence of God in subduing rebellion, and giving their 
rightful liberty to four millions of bondmen, fields of labor, requiring for 
their proper culture, and requiring immediately, a large increase of la- 
borers and of funds for their support, do recommend to the churches of 
Christ whom they represent, — 

First of all, that they seek a large measure of the Holy Spirit, to 
inspire them with the zeal and faith, the courage and self-denial, neces- 
sary to make them willing and happy to give all the men and all the 
money needed to meet this extraordinary and critical exigency of the 
kingdom of Christ in our land. 

Then to the organizations which, in the grace and providence of God, 
these churches have ready and well fitted to this work, the Council 
recommend that they devise liberal things: To the American Home 
Missionary Society — which, according to its constitution, aids feeble 
churches in sustaining the administration of the gosi^el, and sends the 
gospel to the destitute in w'hatever circumstances found, and by itinerant 
as well as local preachers, and which, from its beginning many years 
since, has performed its work with wisdom and fidelity that deserve uni- 
versal gratitude and honor — $300,000 during the year. To the American 
Missionary Association — which, by its past fidelity to the rights and sjoir- 
itual interests of the negro race, and by its evangelical character and 
comprehensive plans and labors for the education and religious instruc- 
tion of the Freedmen, is providentially prepared for the great work of 
their evangelization so suddenly thrown upon the Christian people of the 
land — $250,000 the present year. 

A.nd since there are some places in the country, and especially in that 
part of the country which has just been delivered from the curse of 
bondage, and has been impoverished by the war unsuccessfully waged in 
behalf of bondage, where churches of central influence and of the Con- 
gregational polity, that has no guilty implication with slavery to be 
remembered against it, might at once be prosperously established if 
suitable houses of rehgibus worship and instruction were built, we 
recommend that a special fund of $200,000 be raised by the American 
Congregational Union, and expended under its direction for the building 
of sanctuaries in such places. 

And because of the great importance of occupying such places at once 
with preachers and pastors of experience as well as abihty, we recom- 
mend that churches at the Korth should exercise in some instances the 
self-denial of relinquishing for that purpose their chosen and beloved 
ministers, if not permanently, at least for a time. 

In view, also, of the ignorance of the great body of the poor whites 



EVANGELIZATION IN THE SOUTH AND WEST. 261 

of the South, who at present form the chief constituency there, accord- 
ing to the precedents of Yirginia, North Carolina, and Mississippi, we 
recommend the plans of the American Union Commission for a univer- 
sal common-school education, and for a wholesome emigration from the 
Northern States, with a view to the industrial improvement of society, 
as worthy the encouragement and support of all Christians and pa- 
triots. 

But the pecuniary want of the present exigency is not the greatest 
nor the most difficult to be supplied. To meet the extraordinary call 
which is now made from these various fields for preachers of the gospel, 
and which must be met at once, or much will be lost for the country and 
for Christ, are required (it is not extravagant to say) ten times as many 
as are now offered by the ordinary process of education for the Christian 
ministry. The Council therefore recommend that while the churches 
and ministry do not abate any thing from their zeal and effort for 
thorough and accomplished theological education, but rather add thereto, 
and while they use all proper urgency with Christian young men to pre- 
IDare for the ministry by a thorough or partial course in our theological 
seminaries, they also commend to the proper ecclesiastical bodies the 
consideration of the expediency of apj^roving, and if necessary of or- 
daining with such conditions as they may deem best, laymen residing 
within their limits whom God has endowed with gifts and grace. And 
the Council do earnestly invite such Christian laymen to hear the voice 
of the Lord, and enter into this work. 

And because of the woful need of intelligent preachers among the 
Freedmen, the Council recommend to the churches the speedy establish- 
ment at the South of an institution for the training, by a short course, of 
colored ministers. 

Moreover, this Council, while they exhort to the culture and practice 
of that enlarged catholicity which is according to the nature and habit 
of Congregationalism, they do also exhort to watchful and thorough 
fidelity to the church polity and faith of the New England fathers, pre- 
eminent, as they believe them to be, in their accordance with scrijDtural 
principles and primitive practice, and in their harmony with repubhcan- 
ism in the State ; and they would urge that that polity and faith be pro- 
moted and extended by all honorable and Christian means, and by no 
other means. 

These recommendations, this Council, under a solemn sense of their 
responsibihty to God, send to the churches whom they represent, beseech- 
ing them, and not only them, but all patriotic, philanthropic people in 
the congregations connected with them, by the love they bear to their 
country, by their gratitude to God for its recent great and signal deliv- 
erance, by their sense of justice to four millions of their fellow-men 
divinely restored to their natural rights, and by their love to Christ, who 
has called them into his kingdom, that they might co-operate with him 
in seeking and saving the lost; that they enlarge their minds and hearts 



262 REPORT ON CHURCH BUILDING. 

and labors to a thorougli and glorious obedience to the commands of his 

word and his providence. 

In behalf of the committee, 

S. W. S. Button, 
Samuel Williston, 
Benjamin P. Stone, 
L. H. Parker, 
D. Clary, 
r. D. Parish, 
J. Guernsey, 
W. Crawford, 
J. Bacon, 
Geo. H. ATEitirsoN. 
The report was accepted. 

CHUECH BUILDIII^G. 

On motion, the orders of the day were suspended, in order to 
allow the presentation of the report on the kindred subject of 
church building. 

E-ev. Samuel G. Buckingham, from the committee to which 
was referred the report on Church Building, then read the fol- 
lowing 

EEPOET. 

The plan adopted by the Albany Convention in 1852, to aid feeble 
churches in building houses of worship, was regarded at the time as not 
the least important result of their deliberations. But the wisdom of this 
plan could never have been comprehended as it now is, after it has been 
in operation for thirteen years, and the results are gathered up as they 
are in the report before us. It has furnished so many churches with 
sanctuaries ; it has been such an efficient aid to home missions ; it has 
proved itself such an economical form of benevolence; it has done so 
much to promote revivals of religion; it has so spread the faith and 
church polity of the Puritans, and so stimulated other denominations 
to take up and prosecute the same Christian work, — that we shall never 
cease to bless God for the wisdom that conceived of such a plan, and the 
faith, and enterjorise, and liberality that undertook to put it into operation. 

But the demand which existed for such Christian work then has greatly 
increased since that time. Emigration is flowing Westward as fast as 
ever, while that wall of exclusion which shut it out from the South and the 
South-west is broken down, and it is likely to overflow and fertilize all that 
region also. And every consideration that ever urged us to engage in this 
work does so now, and with increased force. For if it was ever worth 
while to build sanctuaries for feeble churches, it still is ; and there never 
were half so many that needed to be built as are likely to be called for 
hereafter. We must therefore assume the duty that is laid upon us, and 
prosecute the work with becoming vigor. The altered condition of the 



KEPORT ON CHURCH BUILDING. 263 

country may require some modification of our plan and mode of work- 
ing, but the work is essentially the same, and the duty more imperative 
than ever. 

Your committee on ^'' Evangelization in the South and West " call atten- 
tion to such cities and larger towns as Baltimore, and Washington, and 
Richmond, and Norfolk, and Wilmington, and Cairo, and Memphis, and 
New Orleans, and regard them as coming within the scope of thi^ enter- 
prise. As centers of population and influence, they very properly rep- 
resent them as " strategic points " in our moral warfare, and recommend 
that no time be lost in taking possession of them in the name of our 
Great Captain. The wisdom of this recommendation must commend 
itself to all. But it is equally apparent that appropriations to churches 
at such points, to be of any value, must be very much larger than' any 
that have hitherto been made. Instead of three or five or seven hun- 
dred dollars, it will require some thousands to secure the erection of a 
house of worship in such a position, and this will be doing no more for 
them than the former sum has accomplished for a church in some little 
village. In the mining region, also, where the expense pf building is so 
great, appropriations must be made on an increased scale- of Uberality to 
accomplish the desired object. This, however, will require vastly more 
of funds than we have hitherto raised for any such purpose, and also 
require some modification of our mode of raising funds, as well as of our 
scale of expenditure. 

We do not regard any new agency as needed to take charge of this work. 
The Congregational Union, to which it has hitherto been assigned, has 
labored most assiduously, with the scanty force at its command, to col- 
lect funds, and distributed them with wisdom and impartiality. And 
with our confidence in those who have the charge of tliis society, and 
with their experience already acquired in the management of such a 
charity, we may safely intrust this enterprise with them. 

The committee recommend that all applications for aid in church 
building be made to the Congregational Union ; and that, having 
received their indorsement, special agents shall be assigned to particular 
fields for their collections, after the manner so successfully followed by 
the " Society for the Promotion of Collegiate and Theological Educa- 
tion at the West." 

We also recommend that we embrace within our plan of church build- 
ing the affording of aid in the erection of church edifices to feeble 
churches in the cities and large towns of the South and West, and that 
our appropriations to them be upon a scale commensurate with the im- 
portance of their position and the increased cost of affording such aid. 

We further recommend, that in order to meet the increased expendi- 
ture which such an enlargement of our plan implies, and also in view of 
the present demand for church-edifices at the West, and the prospective 
demand for them in the South, the sum of two hundred thousand dollars 
be raised at once, and that a much larger sum than has hitherto been 
raised for the purpose be secured annually to carry out the above plan. 

In conclusion, we would merelj^ add, that if we can not rear any fit 



264 DISCUSSION OF REPORTS. 

monument to the piety of our fathers, and to God's good providence 
over them, on Plymouth Eock, let us scatter these sacred and enduring 
memorials of such faith and grace over the length and breadth of the 
land, and thus show our appreciation of such faith, and gratitude for 
such grace. 

(Signed) S. G. BucKiNaHAM, 

F. B. Doe, 
Philo Carpenter, 
Isaac Jennings, )- Committee. 
J. M. Chamberlain, 
Edwin Johnson, 
H. P. Hayen, 

The report was accepted. 

The question was stated upon the adoption of the report. 

Eev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut, suggested that the two reports be 
referred to a joint committee consisting of the two committees incor- 
porated into one. 

Rev. Dr. Dtjtton, of Connecticut, stated that this was unnecessary, 
the committees having already conferred with each other and made their 
reports to harmonize. 

Eev. Dr. Sttjrteyant, of Illinois, inquired whether it was in order 
to consider the two reports together. 

The Moderator replied that such appeared to be the understanding 
of the Convention, although that upon church building was alone strictly 
before the Convention. 

On motion of Dr. Dutton, of Connecticut, it was voted that 
the two reports should be discussed together. 

Eev. Dr. Kirk, of Massachusetts. It appears to me that it is danger- 
ous for us to recommend the organization of African colleges. We do 
not want African, Irish, or German colleges, but American colleges, 
without distinction as to the color of the skin. I hope that point will 
be well considered, because it involves a great deal. 

Eev. Dr. Dutton, of Connecticut. The committee put that in at the 
urgent request of Mr. Bliss, of Tennessee, and we would like to have 
him defend his child. 

Eev. Mr. Bliss, of Tennessee. In appearing before the committee 
yesterday, I was led in the course of my remarks to suggest the impor- 
tance of distinct educational establishments in the South for the training 
of men as teachers and as preachers of the gospel through that region. 
There is no question of prejudice of color at all in this matter. Those 
who know me know that with me that subject was settled full twenty or 
twenty-five years ago. In looking over the field for nearly two years in 
Missouri, and the last year and a half in Mississippi, and along down 
the Mississippi river, I have found that there was a mighty work to be 



DISCUSSION OF REPORTS. 265 

done for the colored people. Any one who has heard these preachers 
preach and pray will feel distressingly the necessity of training teachers 
for the four millions of freedmen. This work has not yet been fully 
• entered npon ; but already we have at Memphis colored schools contain- 
ing from 1800 to 2000 people of color; and one high school established 
with a Congregational minister and his wife at the head of it. There is 
in that neighborhood an opportunity for training these men for the min- 
istry and for the position of teachers. "We must enter into this work 
early. The colored people themselves demand it; and the times urge it 
impressively upon us. The question of color is not to be brought in. 
We do not have any thing to do with it there. We are working for them 
to the best advantage we can ; and we need there an institution which 
shall be academic, and collegiate, and theological combined, like many of 
our yoimg Western institutions, so that these young men can enter, and, 
by perhaps a shorter course than usual, be prepared to preach to their 
people and to instruct their people. 

Memphis is a central point, with railroads running into it from vari- 
ous points, from Charleston in S. C, from Louisville in Ky., and from 
Little Eock in Ark. Being a central point, it is one of the most impor- 
tant in the whole Southern region. The city of Memphis alone has a 
population of 40 or 50,000, the colored population amounting to 10 or 
15,000, while they are coming there from all points. And you will find 
there, in the providence of God, an institution now given up, in just the 
place for just such an establishment as is required for these people. 

We can not keep calling upon the North for teachers, for we can not 
begin to supply the demand.- A work must be commenced there, to 
instruct the preachers who are to teach the people themselves. I look 
in the same missionary point of view upon the colored people in the 
South, and think we must pursue the same course with them as is now 
being pursued with the people of other lands, regardless of color, — the 
whole question of caste and prejudice being left entirely out of the 
account. It is not to be considered at all in this proposition. 

The colored people there have their own churches and associations 
without any question of color being raised. There need be no question 
of that kind. There is no wish to exclude; but they naturally flow 
together from their social affinities, without any question of color being 
raised. These things, we trust, are buried for ever in this land. 

I introduced that provision with a desire that it might be fairly con- 
sidered here, and in order that some of the more wealthy men at the 
i^orth might create such an institution, giving to it a name to immortalize 
themselves, while at the same time it will prove a blessing to untold mil- 
lions in that Southern region. This work has grown upon my mind 
since I have been in the South. The great question how we shall pro- 
vide instructors and preachers for four millions of people staggers the 
mind with the attempt to grapple it. We do not begin to reach it by 
sending a few teachers from the ]l!^orth. There must be raised up men 
of their own color, and living there among them, for teachers, and for 
preachers of the gospel among^ them. 



266 TELEGRAM FROM THE PRESIDENT. 

TELEGRAM FROM THE PRESIDENT. 

The hour having arrived which had been dedicated to devo- 
tional exercises, the moderator read the following telegram 
received this morning from the President of the United States, 
to the Council : — 

Washington, June 19. 

To Gov. Wm. a. BucKii^rGnAM, Moderator of the Natioi^al 

COUI^CIL of CONGREGATIOIfAL CHURCHES, BOSTOJ^, — 

I receive with profound thanks the dispatch of yonr Council. In the 
arduous and embarrassing duties devolved upon me, I feel the need of the 
co-operation and sympathy of the people, and of the assistance of the 
Great Euler of the Universe. These duties I shall endeavor to discharge 
honestly and to the best of my judgment, with the conviction that the 
best interests of civil and religious liberty throughout the world will be 
preserved and promoted by the success and permanency of our country. 
Let us all labor to that end, and the mission upon which the people have 
been sent among the nations of the world will be accomplished. 

(Signed) Andrew Johksok. 

The Moderator proceeded to say. You all know, my Christian 
friends, the request which President Lincoln made at the time he left 
Springfield, that the people would pray for him. In allusion to that sub- 
ject, in a private interview which I once had with him, he threw out 
this intimation very clearly, that he felt that it was in consequence of 
those prayers, and in answer to those prayers, that he was enabled to 
bear the heavy burdens which were imposed upon him by the position 
which he occuj)ied. I am sure that any man occupying a position as 
prominent as that of Mr. Lincoln during the last four years, must feel his 
entire incompetency to bear the burden placed upon him, without the 
divine aid. 'No man needs it more now than the President of the United 
States ; and surely it is not too much to ask these Christian hearts at this 
hour to unite in earnest prayer that God would strengthen him still more 
for the duties which devolve upon him, and give him that wisdom to meet 
the necessities which the times demand. I will ask brother Carter, of 
Illinois, to lead in prayer with special reference to the President of the 
United States. 

Prayer was offered by Rev. William Carter, of Illinois, Dr. 
Adams, Dr. Dutton, and others, and hymns were sung, — these 
devotional exercises occupying the allotted half hour. 

evangelization in the south and west. 

The consideration of the two reports, that upon Evangeliza- 
tion in the South and West, and that upon Church Building, 
was resumed, each member being limited to twelve minutes 
under the rule. 



EVAXGELIZATIOX — ^HURCH BriLDIXG. 267 

Eev. Dr. Stuhtevaxt, of Illinois. I take the floor at the opening of 
this discussion modestly, and at the request of brethren whose request I 
did not feel at liberty to disregard. How to speak twelve minutes on 
this subject is to me almost incomprehensible. To speak hours would 
be easy. We speak of this great Council. When I compare this Coun- 
cil with the work which sti^etches away before us and around us, it does 
not seem to me great, but unspeakably small : we have just had — and the 
Lord in his merey has delivered us — a mighty physical conflict. That 
was a conflict for the foundation iDrinciple of our political system, the 
equal rights of man; and how hath it taxed the energies of this great 
nation! Fathers and brethren, that conflict is only the emblem, and a 
very feeble emblem, of another conflict which is now before us. We are 
now to have a mighty conflict for those religious principles which lie 
down deep at the foundation of our whole structure of civil and political 
freedom, which are the hope of our own souls, the hope of our chil- 
dren, the hope of our schools, the hope of our nation. If the physical 
conflict has been a mighty one, what T\iU the religious conflict be? 
There is just as much necessity, just as stern and absolute a necessity, 
for carrj^ing through the religious conflict to the complete triumph of 
those principles of religion upon which the whole rest, as there was for 
carrying through the physical conflict. Where would we have been if 
we had not had, or if we had been defeated in, that conflict? Just in that 
position shall we be if we do not enter ui3on, and if we do not conquer in, 
this religious conflict. 

What is our problem? To plant over all the West and South such a 
local church that it will take into its care the entire moral and spiritual 
wants of the entire community within the boundaries of each and every 
local church. Do not misunderstand me. If that church owes allegi- 
ance to the General Assembly of the United States, if it will do that 
work I am not the man that will quarrel with it, or plant a Congrega- 
tional church by the side of it to rival it. ISTot at all. I advocate our pol- 
ity simply because I believe it is the best instrumentality to achieve this. 
But God speed our Presbyterian friends, and God speed om- Methodist 
friends to do all of this work that they can and will do. [Applause.] 

There is no such thing as a system of popular and effective universal ed- 
ucation that does not draw its life from the local church. We have a fine 
system of common schools in the State of Illinois. The people of Illinois, 
in any school district, may have under the State law just as noble a school 
as they desire. But it is necessary to have a people who are under the 
influence of moral and rehgious principles to give hfe to that system of 
education; and over vast regions of that State there is no such life-giving 
power, and therefore that system upon our statute book is a dead letter. 

And so it will be every where. The universal diffusion of the Church 
of Christ is the only condition of the education of our people to be free 
men, to be intelligent voters, to be men in whose hands the sacred inter- 
ests of rehgion and of political freedom can be safely deposited. 

How are we to achieve this result? Any one in this assembly may 
well answer from the depths of his heart, the Lord tell us how. But 



268 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

there is one suggestion I can make mth very great confidence. Every 
one of us sees the necessity of self-denial. What sent these brethren to Illi- 
nois, Missouri, Colorado, Oregon, and Cahfornia? Have golden visions 
drawn them there? "We know the meaning of self-denial for Christ. 
Brothers and fathers, in the name of the Lord we bring this duty of self- 
denial and lay the burden of it upon the conscience of every discii:^le of 
Christ in the city of Boston, in the city of New York, in the State of 
Massachusetts, in the State of Illinois, because there is wealth there 
too that is not consecrated to Christ. We say that whatever stern self- 
denial this cause lays upon the missionary or the minister, shall be laid 
right down upon every private member of the church. Brother, sister, 
the mortgage is upon your homestead; the mortgage is upon your land, 
upon your son, your daughter. Are we to succeed in this grand en- 
terprise? We are to succeed in it by completely breaking down the 
perverse distinction so long made between the duty of self-denial in the 
ministry and the duty of self-denial in the private membership). The 
Lord has as good a claim upon every disciple of his that lives in these 
ceiled houses as he has or ever had upon me, or upon that brother who 
is upon this floor from Colorado. If we are not going to transact the 
whole business upon this principle, there is no hope for us at all. 

I am going to speak plainly. As I have seen how this burden of self- 
denial and self-sacrifice is laid upon the Christian ministry, — none too 
much, for we have not borne half what we ought to have been willing to 
bear for the sake of the Master, — while those who dweU in their X3alaces 
of ease and luxury, and press their velvet cushions every Sabbath day, 
throw those burdens from themselves, my soul has been exceedingly 
filled with scorn for them that are at ease, and with contempt for the 
proud. Brethren, there is wealth enough in the church of Christ; not as 
much as there ought to be, if to-day we would abandon ten thousand of 
the miserable fooleries and ostentations of fashion, and be far more 
earnest workers even in our material interests than we are, and practice 
self-denial and economy, and thus accumulate wealth far more rapidly 
than we do. But on the other hand I would write "Holiness to the 
Lord " upon all that wealth; and as to those figures that have been rolled 
up in this report, $200,000 here, $250,000 there, and $300,000 there — 
there would be no diflflculty at all in the matter. 

The difficulty is this : a large portion of our people feel as I once heard 
a brother say, " I have not volunteered; " " I am on the stay-at-home list; 
I will give a little, but you must not interfere with my pleasures. My 
wealth, my home, none of that is mortgaged; the Lord has no hold 
upon that. I can not part with my luxuries." [The time expired.] 

Kev. Mr. Pike, of Massachusetts, said: I rise but for one moment, 
and will then leave this discussion for abler hands than mine. It seems 
to me that the great question before us is not whether we have a large 
field ojDcn, — for that is granted; nor is the question whether this field 
is to be mainly occupied by regularly authorized ministers instead of 
any other form of eflbrt to bring the people to Christ, — for that, I take 
it, is granted also. The main point is whether or not it is necessary for 



EYAXGELIZATIOX CHURCH BUILDING. 269 

US to have a second tier of ministers. That, I believe, is brought dis- 
tinctly before us by the report this morning, that such is the necessity of 
our situation, that our associations or conferences, or whatever body this 
matter may be intrusted to, are to license and bring in ministers less in- 
telligent and less fitted for this great work. I desire that the remarks of 
brethren fitted to instruct us may be directed to this point. I regret it, but 
I do not know but we shall be obliged to come to this. If so, let us come 
to it in the fear of God and with the earnestness of our hearts. The throw- 
ing open to us of this wide field, and raising up so many millions that" 
need to be immediately instructed in the things of the kingdom of God, 
certainh^ bring us toward that point. If we have come to the place 
where we need this kind of ministry, let us enter upon that duty at once. 

Rev. Dr. Duttox, of Connecticut. One word of exiDlanation. That 
bad special reference to the region of the South and West, and had not 
much reference to 'Ne^Y England. 

Hon. Mr. Po3iEEOY, of Kansas. I desire only in a few brief words to 
say that I approve those reports that have been read to the Council. Of 
course I shall have to leave out vastly more than I can say, and I can 
not confine the remarks I want to make to the topic just presented. 
First of all I want to say that I feel called upon to express the gratitude 
of the churches of my own State for the aid they have had from the 
Congregational Uiiion; and especially of the church of my own town, 
of which I am a member, for the $500 contributed and sent to us to aid 
in bnilding a church. With that aid, we built a church that cost us 
$8000 ; and on the 14th of May of this year, it was pronounced com- 
pleted, and dedicated, at an expense of $12,000; a church out of debt, 
free, and which I think can be said to be self-supporting. And I will 
add that if this Council sends to us now for a contribution to aid in 
building other churches, it will be responded to, and that money can and 
shall be returned. 

I rejoice also to say that in my State there are thirty-two Congrega- 
tional churches, sixteen having their houses of worship completed, and 
sixteen more either having them in the process of erection, or being 
unable to erect. I think Congregationalism peculiarly adapted to a new 
country, and to all new fields. I remember very well leaving Boston 
eleven years ago, in a party of two hundred and thirty-one men and two 
women; and in that company there was a Congregational church, as we 
found after we planted ourselves in Lawrence, Kansas, on the first Sab- 
bath. We found that we had eleven persons, members of Congregational 
churches somewhere, and they gathered together in Kansas, a church 
without a minister and without a bishop. Congregationalism will plant 
itself wherever believers go. If they are members of churches any- 
where, they can come together bringing letters from the churches of 
which they are members, and naturally and easily form a Congregational 
church. The Home Missionary Society very soon sent us a missionary, 
and our church was recognized with other churches. This system of 
policy is adopted every where. It can go south and so encompass the 
country and the continent. 



270 EYAXGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

On the second topic I would say that I do not suppose that in reference 
to my own State any extra effort need be made. We are not an inviting 
field of labor, now that the country is open to us, — the continent almost. 
We are living " in a grand and awful time," and I wonder if we feel that 
'^ to be living is sublime." 'Nexex before was this country open to Kew 
Englanders, or to men of our sentiments, as it is open to-day. 

I want to say, just here, that we have a Capital now. I was in Wash- 
ington before emancipation, and I have been there ever since; and I want 
'the churches of this country to feel that they have a Washington, — a Cap- 
ital, from which we are not shut out as we have been. There are ten 
thousand young men in Washington from the free States, many of them 
from IN^ew England. The clerical help employed in the departments is 
largely from I^ew England. A Congregational church might be gath- 
ered there of two hundred young men to begin with. If we are going 
South, Washington is the gateway to the South; and there are reasons 
why a Congregational church should be planted in Washington, that do 
not so urgently exist in my mind why they should be planted in other 
places. The city of Washington is peculiarly our field, — the field of 
the whole nation. Baltimore is in Maryland; Kichmond is in what was 
Yirginia — I do not know what it is now; — Charleston, Savannah, and 
'all the Southern cities, must eventually come under some local organiza- 
tion; but there are reasons why a national convention should concentrate 
some peculiar energy upon the national capital. It is your home and 
mine. Its very soil has been consecrated to the Union, the government, 
and, thank God, latterly, to freedom. [Applause.] It is as free a city 
as Boston. I remember when we used to walk there with weapons, and 
did not know whether our lives weve safe or not. But if we are safe 
any where, we are to-day safe in Washington. To think that the Amer- 
ican Congregational Churches should neglect it, should not have a large 
representation there, especially since your churches and young men have 
so large a representation there, seems strange to me. I believe that the 
resolution in the hands of your business committee, that the Congrega- 
tional Union should take specific measures to establish a permanent 
church of our denomination there, should be brought forward and cor- 
dially adopted as the sentiment of this Convention. 

I know all about the failures we have had in the past. Congregation- 
alism will always- fail with slavery. You could not plant a successful 
organization of our denomination where a part of the church were free 
and a part were slaves. Our princii^les would not allow that the few 
should outvote the many, or that a part should be disfranchised entirely. 

I want to say, in conclusion, that this subject commends itself to the 
Council, because this is a peculiarl}^ favorable time to make the effort. 
We want a church there that shall reflect credit uj^on our denomination, 
and shall accommodate our peo^Dle. A church in Washington, with such 
a minister as I could select, could have a congregation there of two 
thousand every Sabbath. There are more than twenty Congregational 
ministers, now employed as clerks in the departments, that would go into 
a church and make useful members; and a Sabbath school could be 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 271 

organized with their aid, such as could be found in no other city. These 
ministers, broken down in their health or their voice, although no longer 
competent to labor in the ministry, are good earnest men; and the Con- 
gregational church should make the most of them, as teachers in the 
Sabbath school, and members in the church. And their influence would 
extend from Washington all through the South. 

It is time that we were taking possession of that Southern country. 
War has desolated it more than the frosts of the Korth destroy vege- 
table life. There is a new creation springmg up; and we should be 
there ; our seeds should be in the ground. 

The doctrine that we are to organize those States again where they 
"broke ofl' to go into the rebellion is a monstrous heresy. Let the gov- 
ernments be inaugurated by those men, coming back as they would now 
come back, — taking to themselves seven spirits more wicked than the 
first, ■ — and I assure you that the last state will be worse than the first. 
[Applause.] Society must be organized by beginning at the bottom 
and turning it bottom side upward, because it has heretofore been so 
constructed as to need this overturning. But I will not prolong my 
remarks upon this point, as there is to be a meeting at Paneuil Hall at 
12 o'clock to-morrow, upon the subject of reconstruction, and the rest of 
my sjDeech in that direction I shall make there. 

Eev. J. M. Sturteyant, Jr., of Missouri, said: I do not know, Mr. 
Moderator, whether I can say a quarter of what I want to say, in 
twelve minutes, but I feel that those who have come far, some of them 
half as far as our foreign delegates, and some quite as far, should say a 
word at least in this Council. My home is in Missouri. I have seen there 
some of the work of reconstruction. It has gone further in some respects 
there than any where else ; and I believe that in our experience there are 
some lessons for the church. 

When I went to Missouri, five years ago, it is no violent language to 
say that there was no such thing as free speech in Missouri, out of a few 
of the principal cities. I have been told by travelers in England that 
our English friends can not believe that in a civilized community there 
ever was such a thing as a suppression of free speech. From the very 
county where I have my home, Dr. Xelson was chased by men hooting 
and howling for his life, and that only a few years ago. And in the streets 
of our county seat, only a few years ago, they burned, — what paper do 
you think? — for anti-slavery utterances, — the " ^ew York Observer." 
[Laughter.] I have heard elders of the Presbyterian church and jDastors 
of the same denomination rise before their audiences and confess that 
they had been silent on the subject of slavery in the State of Missouri, 
when their consciences bade them speak, and ask God's forgiveness and 
the forgiveness of the Christian community for that silence which for 
years they had not dared to break. 

But that silence has been broken. It was broken when the chains 
grew so tight, the demand for subserviency so violent and excessive, that 
no man could stand it. At last, speech is free there as it is here. But 
such a change as this could not occur without a thorough visitation of 



272 



EVANGELIZATION 



CHURCH BUILDING. 



G-od's judgment upon those who had suppressed free speech, and a thor- 
ough contempt for those who had been suppressed. Their power is gone 
for ever ; and the very organizations with which they were connected are 
almost in some places refused an utterance in the community. G-od has 
turned society upside down. The men who scarce dared say their souls 
were their own are the leaders of society to-day. 

The old churches have been closed, — some of them by the soldiers, 
because they naturally quartered themselves upon their enemies, and 
their worst enemies were the old-school Presbyterian and Southern Meth- 
odist churches. They have made their homes and their hospitals in 
those churches, the ministers of which have gone off into the rebel army 
or fled the country. There is nothing left of the old teachers of the peo- 
ple. These changes have cut people loose from old denominational lines, 
strict as those lines have been in the West. A community sent word 
recently, " Brother Turner, wont you send us a real Yankee preacher? " 
That is what they wanted. They felt that such a man could be trusted. 

Besides, the new constitution of the State cuts off from teaching and 
preaching, everybody that can not swear he has always been loyal 
to the government. Such has been the change that I verily believe 
nearly one half the citizens of the interior of the State will move out 
in the year and a half which commenced last spring; and others must 
come in and take their places. Those that are left desire, in religion and 
politics and social life, something entirely different from what they have 
known before. We feel therefore that this is a glorious time to plant 
Congregational churches with the new institutions. We began with fear 
and trembling. We expected to stand alone. We expected to be com- 
plained of by men in prominent positions. We supposed it was the 
work of years to make the people understand what Congregationalism is. 
To our surprise we had no sooner explained what it was, — an assembling 
of the people that loved God and Christ, for forming a religious society 
to be governed by the majority, — than the people rallied around it, and 
we formed churches in weeks where we expected to be months about it. 

Let me be very plain here. We did not form a theological seminary to 
teach our candidates the catechisms and confessions of faith before we 
received them. In fact we receive people into the church just as we 
marry people. We marry people that love one another, and are not 
already married to somebody else; and we receive people into the church 
that love God and Christ, and the gospel for Christ's sake, and are not 
already connected with any other church. [Applause.] 

Somebody has accused me of building a church out of Methodists 
and oth§r denominations. I put no Methodists into the church but what 
I found lying around loose; and every Christian man that I find lying 
round loose I propose to build into the church of Christ. All these 
churches are orthodox. We state in plain terms the fundamental prin- 
ciples of the gospel, and we bring them to unite upon those principles. 
We have to be careful to state them in simple language, so as to be 
understood; and if any body is afraid we are heterodox, I can only say 
that I met upon the Council a man from Maine, one from ]N"ew Hamp- 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. Z i 6 

shire, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and one or two more; and when we came 
together we found that we agreed very well upon what constituted the 
church ol Christ. 

In the present movement, which was rather interrupted by a guerilla 
movement, we heard from fifteen towns, and in all but one of those fif- 
teen towns there was an immediate call from a Congregational church 
for a Congregational minister; and that was a failure for special reasons 
that are not likely to last. And I speak within safe limits when I say 
that there are fifty more, north of the Missouri river, just as likely to 
afford places for ministers as those fifteen. But they must be occupied 
at once, or the opportunity will pass. And these churches, though small 
in numbers, are promising to have a firm hold upon the community. 
Many of them are in towns once flourishing, and now so surrounded by 
fruitful fields and advantages that they must renew their i)rosperity ; and 
they are oftentimes the only churches in the community where they are 
planted. We can not wait until a church can be started with all the ele- 
ments of power and success that belong to an old community. We must 
make them feel that we bring them the gospel in their weakness. We 
must say to those men that love Christ, If you are feeble and few, we 
will help you; and then when men come from the East to the West, we 
must say to them. Here is a church for you, a small church, but a church 
of Christ; come with us and we will do you good. This work will make 
the State of Missouri a thoroughly Christian community so far as the 
best organizations can go to make it so. 

Eev. Prof. Baktlett, of Illinois. I feel as though we had now just 
reached the great thing for which we are here together. It is a great thing 
to declare theoretical principles, — to set forth our faith, or our polity; 
but the great thing we have now to do, after all, is to go to work and take 
care of our land for Christ. We feel at the West oppressed with the 
greatness of the work laid upon us; and we sometimes feel that even the 
plans laid before you are unworthy and insufficient, when we think of 
the multitudes of the troops we have sent to conquer the South. What 
is it that we propose to do? To devote to purposes of church building 
just about one half the annual cost of a single cavalry regiment; and 
the whole income of the Home Missionary Society falls far below the 
annual cost of an infantry regiment. Yet with this preparation we are 
proposing to conquer the whole South! When we look around upon the 
churches here, and remember the want of churches in our own vicinity, 
we feel that our brethren here upon the old homesteads have yet to learn 
what is the work before them. We want not merely men but money. 
It has been said this morning that money is not the chief thing we 
want; but we do want money to do the work. We want institutions, 
churches ; and we can not even plant them, to secure an influence, without 
money. There are societies to help the churches. The Tract Society, 
and the Bible Society, the Sunday School Union, and many others, will 
help the church, when the acorn shall be planted, to grow up into a 
mighty oak spreading its branches all over our heads. Our want at 
ttie West in oui- vicinity, is largely money. We are poor. We see our 
18 



274 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

cliiirches bought out from under us by men who can come and bid more 
for them, and can perhaps take up a mortgage upon them. We can not 
provide for young men who want to be educated for the ministry, 
because we have not the means. Even our own men have their thoughts 
largely concentrated upon the old homestead. Two years ago we read 
the record of some $1,500,000 poured out upon this Atlantic coast, which 
went into the old institutions that have been planted and watered for 
two hundred years. I felt that what you were consuming here for your 
daily bread, might have been, at least a portion of it, our seed corn, 
which we want and can not do without. 

As to the education for the ministry, we find that there is a class of - 
men whom we must employ, — men whom the Master calls, practical busi- 
ness men, of tact and judgment, educated by contact with men, and not 
always by contact with literary institutions, — men with a life and force in 
them which men who have gone through a protracted course of study do 
not often have ; and we must still continue to take these men whom the 
Master honors, and put them into the work. 

What we want is to give a true conception of the work opening before us 
at the West and at the South and to get up something like that spirit of 
patriotism and loyalty to Christ which our soldiers have exhibited dur- 
ing the campaign. When we look aroimd and see that a million of men 
have fallen directly or indirectly by the war, who might have had their 
lives saved, and all the losses of the war prevented, by a band of a thou- 
sand, and I might almost say one hundred ministers of Christ spreading the 
word of truth in its purity and power all over this land, we can not but 
mourn the lack of foresight that failed to spread the gospel. It was the 
institutions which you. Christian brethren and fathers, gave to us, which 
kept the troops of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa from being marshaled in 
deadly conflict against the men of Massachusetts, Kew Hampshire, and 
Vermont. That was the reason why Ulysses S. Grant, instead of lead- 
ing our armies to victory at Eichmond, was not taking your own capitol 
ft:om you at Washington. 

Eev. E. P. Martin, of Massachusetts, moved to amend the report 
by adding the words " and faith " after the word " polity," so as to recom- 
mend " to watch carefully over, and protect, and extend the church polity 
and faith of our ISTew England fathers," 

Eev. Dr. Button, of Connecticut. I have no objection whatever to 
that amendment. 

Eev. Mr. Marvin. The distinction between us and the Unitarians is 
more in the faith than in the polity; and while I would be willing to go 
as far as any other reasonable man in this Council to receive those that 
are weak in the faith, and not to doubtful disputation, still I would not 
have it go forth in this report that the polity is all we want. We want 
that which sustains the polity and which has sustained it in all the tiy- 
ing times of the past. I trust it will go forth that we have not lapsed 
from the faith of our fathers ; that the Congregational churches, repre- 
sented in this great Council, stand by their polity in their faith. 

Eev. Mr. Allen, of Massachusetts. I hope this question of Chris- 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 2T5 

tian faith will not be pressed upon this house so suddenly. There is a 
report upon the subject, and it ought to be kno^n when it is to come up 
that there may be an expression of opinion upon it. 

Kev. Dr. Patton, of IlKnois, read the third article of agreement of 
the Saybrook platform, as the "Western doctrine, — 

" That none shall be admitted as members in full communion in all the 
special ordinances of the gospel, but such persons as are known to be 
sound in the fundamental doctrines of the Christian religion, without 
scandal in their lives, but in judgment regulated by the word of God, 
and persons of visible holiness and honesty credibly iDrofessing cordial 
subjection to the will of Jesus Christ." 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Kev. Dr. Todd, of Massachusetts, said : when this Council was called 
together, we hardly knew what the providence of God indicated by its 
call. I was repeatedly asked what was the object, the central idea, 
bringing together this great body of men to-day. I think that before we 
separate we shall all feel that it was the providence of God that brought 
us together, the spirit of Christ that dwelt in us, and the power of the 
Holy Spirit that will follow us home. Our brethren at the West can 
hardly imagine with what joy we meet them, and greet them, and hear 
them speak, and feel their fire, and see their energy, and rejoice in the 
soundness of their faith and spirit. I thought yesterday, when our Gov- 
ernor Andrew sat here looking at you, that he must say in his heart that 
we are a respectable family ; that he w^ould feel that here was a house of 
heads. I Tvish that he could see the hearts that have made these heads 
grow old, the cares and anxieties and labors of these dear brethren in 
that best and holiest of all causes, the cause of our Master. 

We are called upon to vote great sums of money. When we met at 
Worcester last autumn, under the leadership of brother Anderson, we 
had to vote 8600,000 for foreign missions, and he then told us to go home 
and collect it. i!s'ow you are calhng upon us for as much more. I don't 
wonder that my brother Badger's face looks long as he thinks of the 
thousand home missionaries he has to provide for; or that brother Bald- 
win7 the father- of all the colleges of the West, has an anxious heart. 
We have a great burden laid upon us. I begin to feel it already; and I 
have no doubt that before we leave this Council, we shall feel that we go 
home with such a burden resting upon us as we have never had before 
and can never have again while we live on God's footstool. 

I am asked, what are you doing here? What are the results? We 
can tell fifty years hence, or one hundred years hence, better than to-day. 
The results will be beyond all that we can to-day describe or imagine. 
It is not because we vote so much, or speak so much, but it is because we 
feel so much. It is the moving of the heart under the influences of the 
Divine Spirit, and the spirit of the Divine Eedeemer. These $750,000 
— can we get it from our churches ? It makes us feel that we have a 
heavy load to carry, we who are pastors and must take this home and 



276 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 



lay it "upon the heart of selfishness and covetousness and worldliness. 
But I want to say one wi)rd to reheve this feeling. 

When this great rebellion broke out at the South, we felt that there 
was a power behind the army of the South that we could not meet, — the 
power of four millions of human hands working to support and sustain 
the South and their army; and we wondered how in the world we should 
ever achieve the victory with that power, that reserved army, behind 
them. We forget that in New England and the free States we have one 
hundred million of hands behind us, working for us day and night. I 
mean the machinery in your factories, your mowers, your reapers, your 
spinners, your water-wheels. The machinery in the free States now 
is doing every day the work of one hundred millions of hands. That 
has created the wealth that has carried us through this war. And that 
wealth, that power, that reserved army, if it is brought in to help us in 
this cause, will give us the money. I have no fear about that. There is 
wealth enough. It is being created fast enough. 'No, sir; it is the great 
danger of our New England, Northern churches that we shall be 
swamped through avarice, through worldliness, through the prosperity 
of this world. 

Now we have two things that we want to do. We want consecrated 
young men to enter the ministry, well educated. If it were in my power, I 
would send the best man in this house for the purpose to every college in 
New England. I would have him call together all the pious young men 
in each college, and talk with them, and pray with them, and get them to 
pledge themselves to enter the ministry. I was surprised, not long since, 
upon visiting a college where there had been a delightful revival of re- 
ligion, to find that that subject had not been brought before them. I 
could blame nobody for it. But when the subject came to be pressed 
upon them, there was a response ; and there will be a response in every 
college in New England if we may come to the ear of the young men 
who there profess Jesus Christ. Let them understand the trials, the self- 
denial, the labors, and the glory, and they will enter the ministry. 

One other thing we want. We must enter upon a new experiment. 
We must send out half, third, quarter educated men ; — a sort of system of 
lay preachers. We can not help it. The providence of God calls for it; 
and we, old conservatives at the North, will go as far as any of you in 
any of these great plans which the providence of God leads us to take 
up. [Applause.] 

One thing more. I feel that when we leave these meetings and go to 
our homes, we must have a power behind us beyond that which brought 
us here, or we can never meet the responsibilities of this day and hour. 
We can never meet these responsibilities unless the Spirit of God rests 
upon us, and goes with us to our homes. We must carry the Holy 
Spirit in our hearts ; and we must go home to our churches taking hold 
of the mercy-seat, and asking, expecting, believing that there will be a 
tidal wave of revival reaching over our churches and over the land, that 
will prepare us and prepare our churches to meet these awful responsi- 
bilities. Dear brethren, believe and you shall receive. Go home expect- 
ing and praying for this great revival, and we shall have it. 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 277 

Mr. Peatt, of Massachusetts. If the raising of $750,000 strikes such 
a dread and terror to the hearts of the ministers, what must it be to the 
laymen who will have to raise the money? It has been proposed to 
erect a Congregational Church in Washington city at a cost of $100,000. 
Such a project would startle the people of the West and South, for the 
money proposed to expend for that purpose and for similar objects, 
would build five hundred churches for the destitute of the West and 
South. 

Rev. Dr. Dutton, of Connecticut, raised the question of order 
that the subject of the church building in Washington was not 
under debate, being in the hands of a committee. 

The point of order was sustained. 

Hon. Mr. Holton, of Wisconsin. I was called out of ^^Tew England 
by the inviting inducements held out by the West twenty-five years ago, 
and made my home in Wisconsin. The opening was indeed then very 
great; and I feel constrained, at this juncture of our meeting, to say a 
word upon the growth of things in that State under my own eyes. We 
need sometimes to encourage ourselves by examples from the past, as 
well as by peering into the future. When I first went to Wisconsin, it 
had thirty thousand inhabitants only. I have seen the march of the emigra- 
tion from the East, of men who have come to make their homes in Wis- 
consin. Following that emigration came the men sent out by your noble 
Home Missionary Society; and I have seen the gratifying consequences. 
There grew up two hundred churches of our faith, and two hundred 
learned and able men came and took their posts there as servants of 
the Lord to lay the foundations of Christian society. As I have seen 
coming in, the men from foreign lands, the German with his infidelity, I 
have paused and said, What shall stay this? It is only God that can stay 
it. 

Fifteen years ago, the Infidels said : Let us have a convention at Water- 
town, that we may put down the Sabbath. We gave them a severe 
letting alone. They expected, considering the treatment they had had in 
the Old World, that we should come there and put them down by force ; 
but we gave them a severe letting alone. They held their convention, 
adjourned sine die, and never came together again. But we went and 
gathered their children and brought them into our Sunday schools ; and 
thus our system, so silent, so mighty, so potent, has turned aside to a 
great extent that infidelity; and we have a joyful hope now, that we 
shall be instrumental in leading this foreign population into right ways, 
through our system and policy we are pursuing there. 

When you of ^N'ew England have sent aid to our churches in Wis- 
consin, I can stand here and testify that the results have been noble and 
encouraging. I am an humble layman myself; but I have seen these 
things. 

Since I have been here I have been sent out upon a committee, and 
there I met brother Salter. Twenty-two years ago this spring, when the 



278 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

steamer passed the port of Milwaukee, one Saturday night, ten or fifteen 
of your men, sent out from JSTew England, stopped to keep the Sabbath 
there, on their way to Iowa. Mr. Salter, then in his primal youth, was 
one, I might compliment him to-day that he is still a boy; that he has 
kept that youth. WEat have these men done in Iowa? They have 
turned back the accursed influences of the South, which were creeping up 
from the Southern States. I have marked those men with singular inter- 
est. They have filled colleges and schools, and they are they who have 
by their influence kejDt back the inroads of slavery, so that to-day Iowa 
blossoms like the rose. 

I point to these glorious fruits of what we have done in a narrower 
field in the twenty years that are past. But now our rebellion is done, 
and we have not only the eight millions of men on our own soil, whose 
eyes are turned upon us; but do you know that there are a hundred 
million of eyes turned to us from across the water? Do you know 
that this highway across the sea is to be traversed as it was never trav- 
ersed before. In Germany, in Ireland, and throughout Europe, their 
eyes are turned upon us, their hearts bend toward America, and they 
are coming as they never came before. We must make our calculations 
not only for the eight millions here in such perilous need, but for twenty 
millions more from across the water. 

I come then and say that we ought to rise and build now, and lose no time. 
Mr. Beecher said that the foot of slavery is shod with iron, and goes 
slowly. And if it is also true that the foot of freedom flies fast, we should 
make haste, when the duty is laid upon us to build the waste places for 
the cause of our divine Master. 

Dea. Shelton, of Connecticut. The practical question appears to 
be, how the $750,000 are to be raised. There is a single featm-e of this 
which presses upon my mind, and I rise with great reluctance and great 
diffidence, for the purjoose of provoking abler minds to bring it before 
the Convention. It is that the business portion and the wealthy jDortion 
of our churches should be brought to adopt the apostles' method of sys- 
tematic benevolence, in principle, if not literally, laying aside upon the 
first day of the week according as the Lord hath prospered them; and 
until this is done, we shall not reach the standard of the gospel, nor shall 
we be able to meet the necessities of the times. Twenty-five years of 
observation in regard to the working of this princii)le, when adopted 
conscientiously, have tended to deepen the conviction of my mind that 
this is the great sheet-anchor of our business men, to keep them from 
drifting away from the spirit of the gosj)el. I look upon the active 
business man of the present day as in exceeding danger, in these days 
of railroads and telegraphs, this age of steam, and in the pressure of 
business, of losing the spirituality of his heart and life. The remedy 
appears to me to be that it be laid upon his conscience that once a week, 
on the first day of the week, every Sabbath, he ask what God hath done 
for him in a pecuniary point of view, and respond to his duties in that 
respect, and his obligations to the church of Christ and his Saviour. 
Those things being brought before him in his closet every week, he 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 279 

changes his Sabbath-day religion to a week-day religion; and he shows 
that the conversion of his heart to Christ meant the consecration of his 
property also to the Lord his master. I believe until something like this 
is adopted by the church of C iirist, to put a stop to the absorbing cares 
of the business of the world, and arrest the current and turn it into the 
channel of Christ, and a conscientious devotion to his cause, there will 
surely come up from week to week and from year to year this question 
with all its pertinency, where is the money to come from? But when 
this can be done, when our young men can be led to the altar of Christ, 
to consecrate their talents, their affections, and their money to the Lord, 
and to inquire week by week how much he demands, then the spiritual- 
ity of business men will not be consumed by the pressure of their occu- 
pations. 

rijq-AIN^CE EEPOET. 

Hon. Mr. Hammond, from the special committee on Finance, 
reported the following resolutions, which were accepted and 
adopted : — 

Besolved, That the finance committee be requested to pay the minis- 
ters who have presented a statement of the amount of their exj)enses in 
attending upon this Council, fifty per cent, of the amount so presented; 
lorovided^ that no person shall receive a sum exceeding ^200; provided, 
also, that no one shall be paid any amount toward his ex]3enses who 
receives an annual salary of $1500 or over. 

Besolved, That as soon as the finance committee shall have ascer- 
tained the total amount of these expenses, they have permission to make 
further report as to the manner of securing the needed sum. 

The hour of one o'clock having arrived, the Council took a 
recess, under the rule, until three o'clock, p. m. 

ArTEKlS^OO:^^ SESSIOiN". 

The Council was called to order at three o'clock, the mod- 
erator in the chair. The consideration of the reports on the 
Evangelization of the South and West and on Church Building 
was resumed. 

Rev. Mr. Howell, of Liverpool, N. S. (leave having been 
granted), addressed the Council. He said : — 

3fr. Moderator and Gentlemen of the Council: — 

I felt a desire this morning, when brother Bliss, from Tennessee, I 
presume, was addressing the Council, to say a word or two in confirma- 
tion of his views in relation to the necessity of a college for the instruc- 
tion of colored men, to fit them for labor in the Southern field. It was 



280 EVANGELIZATION — ^CHURCH BUILDING. 

my happy privilege to labor in the Island of Jamaica at the time of the 
emancipation of the colored people there, from 1836 to 1840; and it 
was found necessary, in our small field, to introduce a class ol laborers 
of this order, not only in connection with the London Missionary Society, 
of which I was the agent, but also in connection with the efforts of our 
Baptist friends on the same island, and, I believe in other parts of the 
West Indies; and we have found it work exceedingly well, under the 
supervision of the missionaries connected with those islands. That 
supervision, I presume, wiU long be needful on the part of the various 
agencies that may be employed in the Southern States. 

I am introduced to you as from Liverpool, N. S. I hail from thence 
at present. I might have hailed, but for my sympathy with Kansas in 
its suffering, from the State of Michigan; but being denied the privilege 
of advocating the democracy of the Bible there, and fearing that it 
might be so in other fields, I removed across the border. But still I have 
sympathized with the brethren of this body in all their movements. I 
have met some very dear friends here, with whom I have labored in that 
State, and many others whom I have seen elsewhere; and I rejoice to 
meet them here. I want to express the rejoicing that I fee! in the pros- 
pect that is before you; and to assure you that I have had cause to sym- 
pathize with you in the past in relation to your armies. I will mention 
that two of my sons have been fighting your battles. I rejoice that they 
have been preserved. I am now laboring in a church planted by de- 
scendants of the Pilgrim fathers, in Liverpool, 'Noysl Scotia. "We are few 
in numbers, and exceedingly weak; but our hope is, as yours, to go for- 
ward. 

Eev. Mr. Tuenek, of Iowa. I have been long enough in the West to 
have some knowledge of it. It has been my lot to be with and mingle 
with the common people. Although my immediate associates in the 
ministerial associations have been of those who are sometimes called the 
educated class, the great majority of ministers by whom I have been sur- 
rounded all my life have been those whom we call uneducated. The 
inquiry has come up whether we should put a class of men in the minis- 
try who have not been through college. I should be glad to have all in 
the ministry educated to the highest degree, if you please; but then, I 
should be very sorry to have them educated to death [Laughter] ; and 
my conviction is, that a certain amount of education will disqualify them 
entirely for entering our new fields. If we could have them so educated 
that they would be willing to go to work in any place, in any position, 
and use all their powers and capacities, and take things just as they come, 
why, the more such men we have, the better. But when men are edu- 
cated above their position, above usefulness and above willingness to 
labor in the cause of Christ, the less you have of such education the bet- 
ter. [Laughter.] We have had some examples in our little association 
of Dubuque. We have taken up several whom we have found out there 
upon the prairies, who have never been in a theological seminary, never 
been through college, and set them to preaching; — and what has been 
the result ? Why, one of them wandered down here to Massachusetts, 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 281 

and you took him and made him a Doctor of Divinity. [Laughter and 
applause.] Moreover, jou have kept him here! Against this we put 
in our protest. There are two others, who are laboring with us, who 
have come on here; and I must confess that I was almost afraid to have 
them come to your Eastern churches for fear you would keep them. 
[Laughter.] My conviction is, that if we are to supply ourselves with 
ministers, we must take such men as we have, and ask God to endow 
them from on high with the capacity and the ability to preach the 
gospel. 

I wish to say a word with reference to om' Congregational polity. I have 
been an advocate for this polity a great many years. I was its advocate, 
I beheve, before the fathers in Massachusetts were — when they ignored 
it. I have conversed with a great many men upon the subject, in times 
past, and I do not recollect a single instance in which the polity was not 
approved by those before whom it was laid. But while this is true, there 
is a large class of men, — the majority in our "Western States, — who do 
not know what Congregationalism is. They know what Presbyterianism 
and Methodism are; they know what Baptist societies are; but speak to 
them of Congregationalism and they ask, " What is it ? " ' I have heard 
the question asked whether it was a new denomination, which had sprung 
up in the West I And then the inquiry is, "What do you believe?" 
Well, we tell them we believe the Bible, and try to preach the Bible. 
" Well, where is your book of discipline ? " We have never had any 
thing of that character to show them ; and in some aspects, we do not 
want any thing, while in others we do. I hoped, when the subject of a 
declaration of faith and a declaration of church polity was proposed for 
the consideration of this Convention, that there would be a simple, com- 
prehensive, common sense Declaration of Faith, written for the common 
people, — not written for Andover or East Windsor, or for" theologians, 
but written for -the people ; something that the people could understand, 
and feel that it expressed the truth of the Bible ; and by the side of that, 
I hoped there would be jDut a declaration of polity, so short that it could 
be read and understood by all, and circulated as a tract among our West- 
ern people, so that they would get the great idea of our polity and our 
doctrines into their minds. 

Kow, you may think it strange, perhaps, but if a man should go out in 
many regions of the West, though he should be the President of one of 
our noblest colleges, or come from one of our theological seminaries, and 
the people should be told, " He is Dr. Such-an-one " — " He is President 
Such-an-one," it would not have the slightest influence. " Let us see 
him, and hear what he has to say, then we will judge of him." There 
is no respect for titles, there is no respect for a man's standing; but — 
" What is the man fit for? If he has any thing to say that is common sense, 
that is Bible, let us hear it! " The mass of the people really believe the 
Bible, — that is, they give an intellectual assent to it, — and they are 
ready to hear it, and ready to hear any thing that commends itself to 
their judgment, and to common sense, and to the Bible. We do not 
want, in expressing our belief, to tell what our forefathers believed two 



282 



EYAXGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 



hundred years ago: that will not satisfy the people of the West. And 
what our catechisms, or what our confessions of Jaith are, is of but little 
consequence to them; they want to know what living men now beheve, 
what living men now preach and teach; and they think that a body as 
large and as respectable as this, is competent now to tell what we believe. 
[Ai^plause.] It has been my hope, I say, — but I fear I may be disap- 
pointed, — that such a short and comprehensive declaration might be 
made that we could say, as a Council, " "We believe it." We need not 
put into it all we beheve, but make a statement of what we actually do 
beheve with reference to the most important doctrines of the Bible, such 
as we wish to have float down among the common people, and affirm before 
the world, " 'Now we believe this." As I have just remarked, we need 
not tell them it is all we beheve, and we need not tell them that we shall 
not make a better creed when we come to have another Council; but if 
we can agree upon one, which ex^Dresses our x^resent behef, and which 
agrees with the word of God, even if it has no technicahties, even if it 
will not interest especially those who are guards upon our Zion, my be- 
lief is that such a declaration would be of great moment. 

Eev. Mr. Johnson", of Maryland. The only claim, Mr. Moderator, 
that I can have upon even a few moments of the time of this Council is 
found in the fact, that I am here representing, with only one companion, 
a whole State; and yet that would hardly seem to constitute a valid 
claim, since we have but a single Congregational church in the State, and 
that a little one — the very Benjamin of the flock. But you will not on 
that account despise it, nor despise its representatives. 

Congregational Christianity makes its first home in Maryland in a large 
city, — in the city of Baltimore; and on that account it maybe proper 
that I should say a few words with reference to that part of this report 
which relates to the work in cities, because, also, there it is a new work, 
and because there may be more questionings concerning it than any thing 
else that is recommended. It would seem to be perfectly natural that in 
this enterprise, as in every other that we should undertake, with a view 
to extending its ramifications into various parts, we should seize first 
upon the foci, the centers of trade, and population: and if we look back 
to the primitive and apostohc days, we shall find that this natural 
process is precisely in accord with the genius of Christianity itself, and 
has the sanction of the Master; for the apostles went into the cities of 
Asia Minor, the cities along the Mediterranean, and the cities of ^e Eo- 
man Empire, not stopping until they reached the great capital itself; and 
in all these cities they ordained elders over permanent local churches. We 
are but following their steps, if, entering into a new region of om* country, 
we look to the great cities as the jDoints to be first occupied. 

But this work is iDeculiar. There are special objections that may arise. 
There are some upon the ground itself Eor example, let me come down 
to that particular field into which I just now entered, the city of Balti- 
more. Baltimore is, one might almost say, a city of churches. There is 
more quiet there on Sunday than in Boston. There are no street cars 
running on Simday. I think that quite as large a part of the popiflation 



EYANGELIZATIOX CHURCH BUILDING. 283 

attend clinrch there as in this city. A great many of the churches are 
Koman Catholic; then there are Episcopal, Episcopal Methodist, Baptist, 
and Old-school Presbyterian churches, and one small jS'ew-school Pres- 
byterian church. "Why," it may be asked, "go upon this groimd, 
already preoccupied? Why run the risk of collision with these, some of 
them Protestant, sects ? " Well, my friends, we think (not to mention all 
the matters that might be mentioned in answer to that), that our brethren, 
our sons, have a right, if there is room, to Avorship God after the manner 
of the fathers, in the way of their own choice, and according to the dic- 
tates of their own consciences ; and though there are Christian churches 
there, there is room enough in any great city for a new enterjDrise, and if it 
has any special excellence about it, then it has as much right to build on that 
soil as any other Christian denomination. We believe our denomination 
has some excellences. Here is the matter of church polity, which I 
do not think we have praised too much, nor are likely to. I hope we are 
not going to say hereafter, as we have said before, too many of us, that 
that is a matter secondary and indiiferent. It is secondary, and it may 
be indiiferent, if it does not involve a transgression of the equal law of 
Christ. The denial of that law is just as much heresy as the denial of 
the doctrine of the atonement, of the trinity, or any similar doctrine. It is 
anti-Christ. And tell me, from what other source have flowed such 
streams of corruption and wickedness as the transgression of Christ's 
principles in the church itself ? We are going to put a value upon our 
church pohty, yet not so as to deny the Christian brotherhood and equal 
rights of our brethren who prefer some other form. We prefer this, and 
have a conscientious belief that it is the best, and has the sanction of the 
Scriptures. 

Then our methods are different from those of our brethren who 
already occupy those regions. Our preaching, not superior to theirs, 
not abler, not more eloquent, is different from theirs, in that it is less 
technical, less doctrinal, and more practical. It includes, as jDart of the 
practical application of Christianity, the duties of men in the State and 
to the State. We preach politics in a high and true sense. I do not 
say that none preach it in a wrong, partisan sense; but I believe in 
preaching it in this sense, that the principles of the gospel of our Lord 
Jesus Christ are to be applied to man's relations to society and to the 
state. Our Puritan fathers taught us that the scriptures were com^DOsed 
in large part of politics, — the apphcation of religious principles to j)oU- 
tics. We have been taught from that source, and therefore our exist- 
ence in the South is significant. Most of the churches on that soil (I do 
not speak with definiteness, for I have not definite knowledge enough) 
have been, I believe, derelict and false to the Master, in that they have 
either preached disloyalty and secession, or else remained silent; and 
our sons and brothers who have been there have felt as our fathers did 
when, in Holland, they heard strange speech, such as their fathers had 
not heard, and turned with longing eyes to their old home, and then 
looked away to a new home, where they could plant the institutions of 
their own choice and conviction. So do om^ brethren feel in those South- 
ern cities. 



284 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

Now there are objections to establishing churches in cities on the 
score of expense. "We can not plant churches in cities without incurring 
more expense than in rural districts. Here, for example, is a little band 
of twenty-five people, organized into a church in the city of Baltimore 
about four weeks ago, by a council called for that purpose, and among 
them only three or four of any pecuniary means. What can they do? 
"What have they to do? First, pay current expenses, which, with any 
true economy, will not be less than $2000 a year. Then they must either 
worship in a hall where to-day there may be preaching and to-morrow 
dancing, — a place filled with those associations which do not attract 
devout people, — or go to work and fix somewhere a center around 
which the church may crystalize, and draw toward itself those who are 
scattered over a wide field. In the first place, they have got to purchase 
a lot, and they can not get it for two or three hundred dollars, as they 
could if it was in the country, but they must pay $100 a foot, the best 
they can do; and it will tax them ten, twelve, or fifteen thousand dollars 
to get the lot. What can they do unless they are helped? My brother 
Gulfiver, who preceded me in Baltimore, preaching to this little flock, 
said to them, " Brethren, go on, and the Korth will help you. The Con- 
gregational Christians of the Korth will not say, ' Walk alone ! ' because 
you are in a city. They will see that you are infants, and can not walk 
unless you have a finger or a hand stretched out to help you, and they 
will extend the whole hand to help." I told them so the first time I 
visited them, when I had no expectation of being identified with them as 
their minister. I said, " I know by the beating of my own heart how 
the hearts of the sons of the old Puritans will beat with you and for 
you, and I know that they will respond to any call that you may make 
for help." Now, they want a little help. They want to build a little 
chapel. They do not ask any one to endow them with a great church 
edifice. If they ever want one, they will grow to it and build it; but 
they ask for a little chapel now, in order that they may grow. I speak 
of Baltimore, not because I want to make it a specialty, but because I 
know it, and because the presentation of the state of things there will 
disclose to you the condition of things in other places. Maryland and 
Baltimore have some claim upon you. It was Maryland that first 
wheeled from the ranks of Secession into the ranks of Liberty, and she 
ought to have the first Puritan church. More than that, it was in Mary- 
land, in the streets of Baltimore, that the first martyrs of the war, sons 
of Massachusetts, fell by the hands of Baltimore ruflians. We must 
retaliate, — in the name of Christianity, we must retaliate, by giving 
them good for evil; and we must give them the best wc have, and that 
is, the Church of the Pilgrims ; — and this we must do over all the 
South. 

Kev. Dr. Eddy, of Massachusetts. I came here charged with a 
speech; but the twelve minutes' rule has dissipated what little prepara- 
tion I had made. I do not complain of that rule, because I see that the 
idea is, that the edifying counsel shall be in the reports, and the hard 
facts in the speeches. I stand here as a witness. I have recently re- 



EVANGELIZATIOX CHURCH BUILDING. 285 

turned from the city of "New Orleans, where I have been in very familiar 
intercom-se with various individuals and classes, and I believe I can state 
some facts which will be of importance to the Council, in connection 
with the subject under discussion. 

I will say, first of all, — it is due to the band of noble men and women 
there who have applied for assistance to the American Home Missionary 
Society, — that I was very cordially received; that I found them ready, 
so far as they could, to co-operate in any enterprise which had for its 
end the establishment of a loyal Congregational church in that city. 
There were some obstacles, however, which I need not enumerate here. 
I propose simply to call your attention to a few facts bearing upon this 
question. Is there a call for a church of our order in the city of New 
Orleans? (which is a representative city.) If there is, what is the method 
proper to be adopted for the accomplishment of that end? That there is 
a call for such a church, I would infer from this. The Northern people 
there, and the loyal peo^Dle who have long resided in the city, imbued 
with evangelical \iews, look around them in vain among all the old 
churches of the city for a single place in which they can, with comfort, 
I had almost said' in which they can without a violation 'of their con- 
sciences and the compromise of their sacred convictions, worship God. 
Our New England people would look naturally first to the Presbyterian 
churches, of which there are three. The first of these churches is 
famous all through the land, and its former pastor, — its present nominal 
pastor, — the Eev. Dr. Palmer, is known wherever the rebellion has been 
heard of. He still remains the pastor of that church; the people still 
pray for his return; and I was assured by several members of the con- 
gregation, that he would be most cordially welcomed when, in the 
providence of G-od, he should be restored to them. The acting pastor of 
that church is a Northern minister, I believe a Scotchman by birth; and 
in order that you may understand the kind of preaching that they now 
enjoy in those Presbyterian churches, I will give a short account of my 
own attendance upon a single service. It was on the Sabbath which had 
been set apart by the military authorities for a public thanksgiving, in 
view of the great national successes which resulted in the capture of 
Kichmond. Having no engagement in the morning, I went to the First 
Church, — the most elegant and commodious church edifice in Louisiana. 
The Psalm that was read was the twenty-third Psalm; and especial 
emphasis, the significance of which could not be missed by any, was laid 
upon the words, " Thou preparest a table before me, in the presence of 
mine enemies." The prayer, which ought to have been a thanksgiving, 
was a prayer that God would give his people there, and throughout the 
land, a spirit of submission to his righteous judgment. The tone of the 
prayer, from beginning to end, evidently rose from the feeling, that they 
had been called as a joeople to endure very severe chastisements. Then 
.followed the sermon, — an Orthodox sermon of approved staple in that 
respect from beginning to end. But what struck me in the sermon, — 
in which there was no allusion to national victories or national trials, — 
was one remarkable display of courage. In the midst of the sermon, the 



286 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

venerable minister was about to assert a truth, as it would seem from 
his manner, under imminent danger of martyrdom. He said, with up- 
lifted hands, "If I were to be led to the stake for saying it, if I were to 
lay my head on the block for saying it, I would still assert that man is a 
sinner, and must he saved hy the grace of God.'''' [Loud laughter.] I 
have given you, not an exaggerated, but a perfectly candid description 
of that religious service ; and there is no church in the city, of the Pres- 
byterian order, which holds out greater attractions than that church to 
our IsTew England people. There remain, it is true, two Methodist 
churches, occupied now by ministers under a military order, and a Bap- 
tist church, given over, by a military order, in the same way, to a loyal 
minister; and many of our 'New England jDeople have very properly, 
with great earnestness and zeal, thrown themselves into those churches, 
and are doing what good they can in connection with such ministrations 
as they there enjoy. The substantial gospel, doubtless, is preached, but 
you can well understand that those who have been trained up in our 
New England churches are hardly satisfied with preaching, the sub- 
stance of which, to say the least, is Arminian. There is a call, there- 
fore, by the loyal Christian people of Kew Orleans for an evangelical 
church; and I think the preference among them is very decidedly (al- 
though it must be said the majority have been formerly Presbyterian) 
for a church order which has not been compromised by any connection 
with slavery or with the great rebellion. 

There are difficulties in the way of the organization of such a church. 
One of the principal is want of a church edifice. I believe to-day, that if 
you would give me $35,000, 1 could estabhsh, in the city of New Orleans, 
a Congregational church, the infiuence of which would be felt all over 
the Southern States. A church edifice can be bought now for less than 
half its original cost, which would amply accommodate all who might 
desire to attend upon a Congregational ministry for years to come. 

In regard to the colored people, of whom there are about 40,000 in the 
city, I will say that I formed a very close acquaintance with them; and 
I enjoyed my intercourse with the colored ministers and my attendance 
upon the colored churches more than any other labors which I performed 
or any other privileges which I enjoyed. Much has been said of the 
ignorance of the colored people. I want frankly to say, that the colored 
people of New Orleans, with whom I had such large acquaintance, did 
not strike me as so extremely ignorant. Many of the free colored people 
of that city are very thoroughly educated, and several of their ministers 
are very well qualified to instruct them, not only in religious matters, 
but in their rights and duties and privileges as citizens. The very best 
address I heard in the citj^ on the assassination of our beloved President, 
was by an aged colored minister, — an address which thrilled me from 
head to foot, and made my eyes overflow with tears. There is not a col- 
ored person in the city who is not loyal. [Loud applause.] And how- 
ever much I might assent to the general principle, that the exercise of 
the elective franchise ought to be conditioned upon a certain degree of 
education, — looking over the population of Louisiana, I beheve that 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 287 

those who are at present best qualified for the exercise of that privilege 
are the free colored people and the freedmen. [Applause.] I went down 
South a bit of an old fogy; but I came home greatly changed in that 
respect. [Applause.] 

The colored people need thorough instruction of a moral even more 
than of a reUgious nature. Their ideas and conduct, in regard to two 
or three of the cardinal virtues, are perhaps somewhat questionable; and, 
if I can have the time, I would like to relate two incidents, in as few 
words as possible, for they illustrate the very vices which prevail among 
them, and which must be uprooted by proper instruction. A colored 
woman, regarded as eminently pious, who had been long an inmate of a 
Christian family, was sent, on one occasion, to the market. There she 
saw a fat goose. She had a craving for the goose, and slipped it under 
her apron and carried it home. She was detected; and when, the next 
Sunday morning, she asked her mistress if she had permission to go to 
church, her mistress said, " Mary, you know you stole that goose the 
other day; how can you go to the sacrament? Don't you remember that 
goose?" "Lor, missis, do you think I'd turn my back on my blessed 
Jesus for dat old goose? " [Great merriment.] The other fact is not 
an amusing, but a significant one. While I was in the city, a quadroon 
woman, splendidly dressed, having a nurse with a baby in her arms, 
stood up in the colored church to offer her infant for baptism; and a 
white man, with whom she had hved for years, aiDpeared with her. The 
child was his. The minister was asked afterward by a friend of mine, — 
" Were those persons husband and wife? " " Oh, yes, husband and wife." 
" But I mean, have they been married? " " Oh, I don't know about that," 
said he; "probably not." That answer will suggest to the minds of this 
Council a great deal of solemn, and perhaps very sad, reflection. 

Eev. Mr. Thome, of Ohio. Brethren of the Council, — I may be per- 
mitted to say that I belong neither to the East nor to the West, but to 
the j^orth and to the South. To the latter, originally, natively, and 
therefore by ties which can never be wholly sundered, let the South do 
as she may. I am very strongly reminded, on being in Boston now, that 
thirty-one years ago, this month, then a youth from Kentucky, and just 
emancipated from the trammels of a slave-holding family, I had the honor 
of speaking in this city on the then rising, and since great question of 
the land and of the world, — the emancipation of the enslaved. ^tSTow, 
after the lapse of thirty years, I meet here, not a handful of the citizens 
of Boston, but a great multitude of the representatives of the numerous 
churches in the East and in the West, who have come here to look down 
from their elevation upon the South, and to entertain the great, and, as it 
seems to me the paramount inquiry, " What can we do — we who dwell 
in those States that have been blessed by the institutions of the Puritans, 
and have seen their blessings siDringing up in the institutions of the 
church, the family, and society, — what can we do to disseminate our 
hallowed institutions in the South? " 

I wish to speak for the South ; not for Baltimore ; not for ^ew Orleans ; 
not for a few prominent metropolitan positions in the South, — but for that 



288 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

great field, that magnificent empire which the war has opened to us — 
opened to us, pre-eminently, among all the Christian peoples of this land. 
I find myself, sir, as representing that great field before you in an hum- 
ble capacity, between two great peoples there, in both of whom we ought 
to feel a profound interest. On the one hand is that class who are known 
as " the poor whites," who have been more or less involved, indeed, in 
the war of the rebellion, but who, after all, have but little of the crimi- 
nality of that rebellion resting upon them, and who, in their ignorance, 
in their religious destitution, in their utter distrust of the religious estab- 
lishments which have hitherto been in operation among them, look now, 
they scarcely know whither. They look by a divine guidance, no doubt, 
to us, for religious institutions that shall be adequate to their necessities. 
I speak for them to-day; and I speak in their behalf with intense 
earnestness, that we may heed the call of Providence, and, seeing by the 
eye of faith their outstretched hands, asking us to come to their help, 
may avail ourselves of this opening of Providence, and introduce the 
Christianity which we represent into and among the families of this 
poorer class of the whites of the South, — always poor, rendered poor 
by slavery, and now rendered doubly poor by the rebellion, which has 
desolated their country, and crushed them under the heel of a military 
as well as a civil despotism. 

Then, sir, on the other hand, I see millions of the lately oppressed, 
redeemed from their oppression, liberated from their bondage, — oh, how 
strikingly, and how gloriously, — by a sudden stroke, the stroke of war 
and the stroke of the President's pen; liberated from oppression and 
bondage! — and yet, not liberated from the dark bondage of ignorance, 
of religious demoralization and debasement. Now, the query with me 
is, how shall that people be elevated most rapidly? With all the advan- 
tages that may be secured to them by political action, or by the magna- 
nimity, generosity, or justice of the government elevating them to the 
position of citizens in this land, and introducing them as rapidly as prac- 
ticable and expedient to the fullest privileges of citizenship, — after all this, 
which may be a question of time, and, indeed, which may await, in part, 
our action, — there still lies at our door a work of a religious and educa- 
tional nature, which they are calling earnestly upon us to render to them ; 
and as I have studied their wants, their necessities, — their most pressing 
present necessities^ — I have felt that the providence of God had most 
manifestly -convened this Council at this time, more especially that it 
might look upon this degraded and outcast people, now being lifted up 
into view, and that it might provide for them those religious institutions 
which are so well calculated to elevate them. Our churches are local 
churches ; that is the prominent idea in our system of church polity ; and 
the establishment of churches, not merely in the cities of the South, but 
all over the Southern country, where on the one hand the pobr whites, 
and, on the other, the poorer blacks, may find true Christian nurture, 
and a position of equality, if not in the State, at least in the church, 
where they shall be self-governed, and have the charge of their own 
religious afiairs, would be the very best and most rapid means of pre- 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 289 

paring them, as we well know for the discharge of their political duties 
and their civil duties also. 

It is on this ground, Mr. Chairman, that I wish to urge the importance 
of that work which is now being done by the American Missionary As- 
sociation and kindred bodies, — but especially by that body. In one of 
our reports to-da}^, honorable allusion has been made to this Association, 
as a body which has rendered its claim paramount to our support and 
countenance in its endeavor to difiuse a true Christian polity and true 
Christian faith among the colored people of the South. Let us labor 
through this instrumentality, not discouraged, not with faint hearts, but 
with strong confidence that God, having opened this field to us, will per- 
mit us to occupy it. 

Rev. Dr. Post, of Missouri. Mr. Moderator and brethren of the Coun- 
cil, — I do not know that I should occupy your time at all, but that I 
have thought you might think it a little strange that one who has been 
for many years an out-post [Laughter] of your denomination, — toward 
the extreme of your denominational watchmen to the South and West, — 
should not add a word in regard to the experience of the years which he 
has there spent, and which furnish some results that may guide in the 
present crisis of affairs. 

When I first took charge of a Congregational church that had estab- 
lished itself in St. Louis, the question was asked by many, " What is the 
need of a Congregational church in this city, and what call is there from 
Providence for it? " — such questions as have been propounded to us by my 
brother from Baltimore. I have lived long enough to see that God had 
an end in view in planting that church there, in the focus of this great 
moral strife, and at a time in the history of this country when a power 
such as gathers round the principles of your polity and your faith, has 
had a most beneficent vocation and influence; and I believe that the 
existence and action of this church (I may say it without challenging 
any thing for myself), have had much to do with the condition of Mis- 
souri to-day, as a lojal State, and one that has decreed the abolition of 
slavery. I therefore believe that it will be found to be of moral profit 
to aid the beginnings of churches in cities, after the apostolic plan. iN'ot 
that the country should be neglected; but the idea has- been entertained 
by some that no aid was required in such places. You never render aid 
where it will produce more important results. Graft a church upon a 
growing metropolis, and it grows with the metropolis, and it acquires 
jDower as the men gathered in it have power; it becomes a progressive 
thing, and at last a mighty thing. 

One word about the obstacles in Missouri. The obstacles that have 
been thrown in the way of the progress of that church have not been so 
much opposition to us on the ground of our anti-slavery, as hostility, for 
some strange reason, to the church principles that we have advocated. 
And I will say, too, that it comes from your own children, — because 
they are your own descendants. Those who h^ve been nourished by 
your money, and sent forth from the bosoms of your families, from your 
churches, and from your seminaries, have regarded Congregationalism 
19 



290 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 



and Abolitionism as two isms too full of vague evil and odium to carry 
through that country. 

I wish to say one thing here. We are, brethren, very glad to welcome 
members of your churches there, but I hope, if they come there, they 
will understand something of the difference between your church polity, 
so dear to your fathers — for it was regarded as one of the greatest gifts 
of God to them — and all the other forms that come in to lay claim to 
them and draw them to themselves. There was a time when I felt this 
more bitterly than I can tell. We do not need your help now, but there 
may be others in the same situation, and remember them. 

There is in Southern Missouri a vast field for the enterprise that we 
are now projecting, or talking of ; and I wish to put in one protest in 
regard to the churches that may be there formed. Brethren, do not 
require of us that we be exactly correspondent to the old type of the 
church in Kew England. There are many communities there where the 
old ecclesiastical organizations have been broken up, and the disinte- 
grated fragments have been scattered, with no principle of union. They 
stand looking each other in the face, none of them strong enough to form 
an organization, — their children growing up in barbarism; and when 
they would unite, some string of dissent or malice draws them apart. 
Now, some Christian man with great common sense will rise up, eventually, 
and say, " Brethren, what do we here ? Shall our children grow up 
in barbarism? Shall we have no Christianity, no preaching of the gos- 
pel? Why not come together on common-sense ground? Cleaving to 
the ' essential principles of the gospel of Christ, and laying aside those 
which distinguish us from each other, let us come together on the princi- 
ples of brotherly equality, one man possessing the same franchise as 
another. You have a Congregational church in consequence, and you 
have the great articles of faith, which may not be a very complete sj'^s- 
tem of theology, but which, if they were more complete, would be in- 
complete and imperfect for the object for which such a system is there 
required. 

I wish to say one other thing in connection with that. Do not be 
alarmed at it. Do not be afraid we shall go to wreck and ruin and de- 
struction in consequence of it. There is less danger of it now than there 
was years ago. The reason is, we have been placed in circmnstances 
where work has been required ; and I wish to say, that I hail this rolling 
by the Almighty of a burden upon our denomination as a great blessing 
this hour, a great means of preserving us pure in doctrine and keeping 
us to the principles of our church polity, keeping us in proper order; 
and under this influence, aiming to convert men, the churches will grow 
in orderliness. The ships sailing toward the same port, guided by the 
same star, will find that they are not very far ofi", though they do not 
stop to consider each other's latituae and longitude as they pass. 

One word more here. Although I feel grateful to those who present 
complete systems to us, — the symbols that represent us before the world^ — 
I do not have any apprehension for the loss of Christian faith or true 
orthodoxy, while the church is doing its great work, is practically awake, 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 291 

any more than I have of the loss of the theory of Copernicus, or the 
theory of gravitation, while men are working amid the great dynamics 
of the outer world. [Applause.] While rivers roll, and masses fall, and 
the stars are wheeled in their spheres, men will hold to it, without a set 
of philosophers getting together every few years, and resolving that the 
Copernican system is true. [Applause.] ^sTow, Christian brethren, this 
great sj^stem of our dynamics is alive; it is no theory; no logic can 
prove it; no words can evolve it; it is a thing into which men and com- 
munities grow, and you might as well attempt to carve out a populous 
city of beauty and life from northern icebergs, under the eternal win- 
ter, — you might as well undertake thus to create a living city, as, stand- 
ing still, without doing the Lord's work, by your logic and theses, and 
comparison of the various forms of theologic thought, hope to build 
up a Christian church. The eternal ice will not waste under the light, 
however brilliant, of the aurora; but call the sun into the heavens, let 
him strike down into the germs of life, let him wake up the seeds of 
vitality there, and they will grow into beauty, and the ice-fields will 
change themselves to jDaradise. So it will be with the ecclesiastic world. 
The great work to which God calls us to-day is the force of moral grav- 
itation which draws his church toward one mighty center. As water, 
when standing still, becomes stagnant and breeds pestilence, but when- 
brought under the influence of the gl-eat forces of nature, becomes a liv- 
ing, vitalizing power, and scatters bloom, life, and health along its track, 
so it must be with the great stream of life which flows through the 
church of God. [Applause.] 

Eev. Dr. Beecher, of Illinois. I speuk, not to make a speech, but 
because there is something I want to say, — something that I feel deeply. 
Thad great anxiety Avith regard to this meeting of the Council, when I 
perceived, from the doings of the committee at Kew York, that the 
declaration of a creed, and a declaration in regard to church polity, were 
included among the matters to be brought before it. 2^ot because I did 
not feel the importance of both these items, but because I was deeply 
convinced that the original idea of this movement, in the Triennial Con- 
vention at Chicago, and further South, where it originated, was simply 
practical; it was simply and only to promote the work of evangelization; 
and I have felt, ever since I have been here, afraid that there would be 
a disposition to spend the time in talk, in remembrances of the Pilgrims, 
in visitations, and in the many things which are very agreeable, in them- 
selves considered, but which, in the end, amount to nothing, unless they 
are connected with distinct and definite enterprises, clearly laid out and 
resolutely undertaken. If I were asked to state what I consider to be 
the essence of this assembly, I should say, — Three hundred thousand dol- 
lars to the Home Missionary Society^ — two hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars to the American Missionary Association^ — two hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars to huild churches. When you have stated that (you 
may put more on, if you please, and include other objects), and fairly 
put your shoulders beneath it, with a resolute purpose to raise that 
amount of money; if you separated and did nothing else, you would 



292 



^ANGELIZATIOX 



CHURCH BUILDING. 



have done the thing for which this body came together. [xYpplanse.] 
That is what I wish to burn into the minds of this assembly. We all 
know that in mechanics, if you undertake to lift a heavy weight, you 
must put your force beneath the center of gravity, and when you do 
that, you lift the weight. You may apply the force so that the weight 
will revolve upon its axis, and there will be a great deal of motion, but 
you do not lift it; and we all know, too, that if you undertake to move 
a tree, and only take possession of the root, the top branches will go 
with the root. So it is with regard to this question which we are met 
to consider to-day. The root which will carry the branches is this 
$750,000. I have been more interested in the $750,000 than I have in all 
the reports. [Laughter.] Not that I have undervalued the reports. I 
consider them in the light of material to make steam, if they are prop- 
erly used; but it is the $750,000 that we are after in this movement, 
[Applause,] and if we gain it, we gain the end for which we have come 
together, and if we do not gain it, we do not gain the end. There is no 
power to move these great masses of men, there is no power to move 
these great enterprises, unless we can place our power beneath that which 
is the center of gravity, and lift that; unless we can place our power be- 
neath that which is the root, and lift that, — we carry the branches with 
it, of course. Who does not know that men are needed in the ministry? 
Who does not know that we need men of a lower grade of education? 
Why, the other day, when I went to ordain a man in Iowa, a brother of 
Mr. Thome — a practicing physician — came to me and told me that 
the grace of God was burning in his heart; that there was a field in Mis- 
souri, and he felt he must go and preach the Gospel; but he was not an 
ordained minister, and how could he go? Well, half a dozen pastors 
said, "We will give him a written recommendation to go and preach; " 
and we gave him a recommendation to go into Missouri and preach and 
gather churches as fast as he could. [Loud applause.] I gave him a 
letter of recommendation, also, to brother Turner, who is the agent in 
that field; and, by-the-by, he is a sprout that came out of the college at 
Jacksonville, where brother Sturtevant is President. 

!N'ow, the question is, how can you get up that enthusiasm, how can 
you get up that earnestness, how can you get up that resolution in 'New 
England that shall bring out the power there is here? The agent who 
went through New England in behalf of Iowa college. Dr. Holbrook 
(and I imagine he is the person brother Turner referred to when he 
spoke of somebody who was stolen from the West), succeeded very well 
in his enterprise up to a certain point, and then, for reasons best known 
to himself, but no doubt valid, located himself where he is now, — a very 
useful man, I have no doubt, — in the central part of New York. But 
what I have to say with regard to all such movements is this: that just 
as surely as New England shall retain an amount of wealth within her- 
self which is enough to produce corruption, or in so far as the principle 
of self-denial to which brother Sturtevant referred is not made really to 
go down to the depths of the property there is in this State, we shall fail 
of our object. That brother said, it was perfectly astonishing what 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 293 

wealth there was in the churches of Massachusetts alone. 'Now, what I 
say is, if we ha.ve a power of Christianity, if we have a power of con- 
viction, if we have a power of persuasion and faith, that shall not only 
warm but heat all this mass of mind, and go down and take hold of this 
wealth, and take hold of it enthusiastically, we can raise the $750,000. 
[A YoiCE. " Make it a million."] Add on $300,000 more, if you XDlease; 
it can be carried! It is the easiest thing in the world to raise it, if we 
only have the power. It is just as it is with those prodigious steam-en- 
gines that we have in our Western steamers. You go on board one of 
those boats, and while the engine is cold it has no power. But kindle a 
tire under the boiler,"and make it burn, and then you see the smoke com- 
ing out of the pipe, you hear the steam hissing through the cracks, ai5d 
presently the boiler is full, and the piston begins to rise and fall, and the 
whole machinery is instinct with life ; the steam plays with it as though 
it were a mere plaything, and the vessel moves on triumphantly. JSTow, 
what we want is that steam power; we want that pervading, that pene- 
trating earnestness of conviction, with regard to these great interests, 
that shall not only make New England willing, but shall make Kew 
England truly unable to do otherwise than to pour forth its power, its 
energy in this great work. Oh, what is money worth, if it is not to be 
used for such work as this? Such a country to save! such a society 
to reorganize ! such a future as there is within our reach, just as cer- 
tainly as cause follows eflect, if we apply the proper means ! What is 
the worth of money when Grod thus, as it were, hangs up in heaven these 
great signs, these great omens; and when God thus calls, as it were, from 
heaven, — what is the worth of money, except to respond to such a call, 
to save such a country, to penetrate and fill with the pure light of the 
gospel all those vast regions that are open to us, and which are to afiect 
the country even down to the millennial ag-e, and beyond it, to eternity. 

Dr. Kirk, in behalf of Gardiner G. Hubbard, Esq., of Cam- 
bridge, presented an invitation from that gentleman to the 
Council to take tea with him to-morrow evening, at 5i o'clock. 
The invitation was accepted. 

Mr. BowEN, of Kew York. 3£r. Chairman, — when this great rebel- 
lion broke out, one of the first questions that came up was the money 
question. I was delighted when the Eev. Dr. Beecher introduced that 
question here, for I think it very opportune that it should come up at the 
present time. The fact is, we must go to business now, and go to the 
raising of the 8750,000, or we shall fail of the great work, the practical 
work, that has brought us together. I have had some acquaintance with 
the working of the $50,000 fund which was raised in Albany a good 
many years ago. I well remember when that convention came together, 
and when the committee was appointed (of which I was a member), to 
consider the question of church building, and it was proposed to raise 
$50,000 for that object, they said it could not be. done, and recommended 



294 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

a smaller sum. But when the brother from the West, who has been 
referred to, who has lately gone to the State of New York, to settle, pre- 
sented his argument to the committee and told his story in regard to the 
wants of the West, and we had heard also from brother Turner, who 
spoke earnestly in behalf of raising that money, we decided that $50,000 
could be raised, we" resolved that it should be done, and it was done. 
Sixty or seventy thousand dollars were raised in one day by a collection 
in all the churches for that object. That collection, Mr. Chairman, and 
brethren, was one of the best gifts that the church of Christ, in my judg- 
ment, ever gave to the cause of this country; and now we are called 
upon to do a much greater work, and yet a work which, if we think of it 
pjroperly, and with a right spirit, will be a small work for us to do. 
There are six hundred delegates present, if I remember right. These 
six hundred delegates, representing the Congregational churches of 
this nation, can settle that question before they return to their homes. 
There are various ways to raise money. Business men find out, when 
money is to be raised, where money is to be had, and they come at that 
point. I propose to make a few remarks in regard to the method to be 
taken to raise this money. Suppose any of you, from however poor a dis- 
trict, perhaps from one receiving aid from the Home Missionary Associa- 
tion, were asked to raise a thousand dollars, would you not say, whether 
layman or minister, if that work was put upon your shoulders, " Yes, 
if it must be raised, I can raise it in my district." 'Novf, if each one of 
you will raise a thousand dollars, you will have $600,000. There is a 
proposition for you to think of. If we pass this resolution to raise 
$750,000, we must take hold of it in earnest. And that reminds me of a 
little story that I heard when I came into town. A friend went to the 
Lunatic Asylum to see a very estimable and formerly very useful woman, 
that he might report to her friends what her condition was. She ap- 
peared very sane, and he did not see any traces of insanity about her. 
She talked, he said, like a lady and a Christian, and as he got up to go 
away, he could not help making the remark, " My friend, I am surprised 
to see you here; I think you ought to go home to your friends." " Oh," 
said she, "you don't understand me; you don't know what is the matter." 
" Why," said he, " what is the matter? " " I will tell you what is the 
matter — I have got a hobby. Don't you know what a hobby is? " 
" JSTo," said the minister. " Well, there are two kinds of horses. If you 
get on a four-legged beast, that has got flesh, and blood, and bones, you 
can get off when you please; but if you get on a hobby, you can't get 
off. I have got on a hobby." That was her difiiculty. I think there is 
a good deal of instruction in that. No great work was ever accom- 
plished without a persistent determination to carry out that work. What 
could the Home Missionary Society have done, if they had not had men 
who made it a hobby — made it a life-work to take hold of the matter 
and carry it through? What would the Foreign Missionary Society 
have done, if men had not taken hold of it as a hobby? Now, let us 
make this a hobby for the time being; we can get off when the work is 
done. Let us devise some plan by which we can raise this $750,000. 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 295 

We can do it. It may stagger you to think of it ; it is a very large sum 
of money to raise in these times, but, brethren, it can be done. The 
nation is roused as never before, and we ought to be aroused as Chris- 
tians, to do the work which God has placed upon us; and I call upon 
you, brethren, and fathers, every one of you, to take hold of this matter, 
and to carry it through. Eelying upon the blessing of G-od, we can 
carry it through, and who of us can tell the results? — who of us 
can estimate the good that would be accomplished by raising 8750,000? 
Why it would shake the nation; it would shake the world. Christendom 
would rejoice and give thanks to God; we should have a day of thanks- 
giving, and we ought to have one. It is not a great work, after all ; we 
can do it; and therefore I say, that I hope the question of how to raise 
funds to carry out the objects concerning which we have had such able 
reports, will be carefully considered. When we go home, brethren, this 
matter in regard to the raising of the $750,000 will be about the only 
thing that we shall remember of the Convention. What can you remem- 
ber that occurred at the Albany convention except that the §50,000 fund 
originated there ? If that fund had not been raised, there would have 
been scarcely any thing about it, that we should remember now. Let 
us do this work, and we shall have something to remember and praise 
God for as long we live. 

Eev. Dr. Budixgtox, of K'ew York. I would like to ask what the 
distinct question is that is before us? What do we commit ourselves to 
when we vote? 

The Modeeatoe. The first question to be presented to the Council 
will be the adoption of the Eeport on Church Building. 
Key. Dr. Budington. Is that question still before us? 
The Modekator. That is the question still before us. I will state 
the position of the business before the Council. There was, in the first 
place, the Report of the Committee on Evangelization, which was ac- 
cepted, and therefore before the Council. Then it was moved, and car- 
ried, to suspend action on that report, and the Eeport on Church Building 
was introduced. The question on that was one of acceptance, which 
was carried. The question then was, on the adoption of the report. It was 
afterward moved, and voted by the Council, that the two reports should 
be considered as one in the debate; so that, when the debate shall close, 
the question will recur on the adoption of the Eeport on Church Building. 
Eev. Dr. Budixgton. I beg pardon; I do not exactly understand, and 
I think the brethren around me are in the same state of mind that I am. 
When we debate a report which ends in a series of questions, the adoption 
of the report, I believe, according to our rules, signifies that the Council 
becomes responsible for the principles embodied in those resolutions only. 
ISTow, what I want to get at is this : How much, when we come to vote 
on the reports, will this Council commit themselves to in the way of ap- 
probating the principles here set forth? I have observed, in the reading 
of these reports, that very important principles are commended to the 
adoption of the Council in the body of the report. I do not think that 
the distinction has been observed in drafting the reports, which our rules 



296 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

have presupposed, ^ow, there are several points of principle, which 
have been alluded to by the various speakers, upon some of which I feel 
a personal and special interest, and, before the vote is taken, I wish to 
have them distinctly brought up before the minds of the Council. I 
should be very sorry if we should vote blindly, generically, so as not to 
commend to the churches, distinctly and understandingiy, the principles 
that have been incorporated in these reports. 

The Moderatok. If I understand the position of the business, it 
is that these two reports are still before the Council, and are to be con- 
sidered together, but they are not to be acted upon, or voted upon as if 
they were one, but they will be separated, and when the vote is taken, the 
question wiU be on the adoption, first of the Keport on Church Building, 
and then of the Keport on EvangeUzation. "When adopted, the Council 
do not adopt the principles laid down in the report, but simply the recom- 
mendations contained in the resolutions. 

Eev. Dr. Patton, of Illinois. The brother confases the reports of 
the preparatory committees with the reports that have just been read. 

Rev. Dr. Dtjtton, of Connecticut. The report of the committee is in 
the form of recommendations to the Council, which constitute the whole 
body of th-e report. 

Rev. Dr. Budington. When I took my farewell of my church, I 
told them I expected to present to them, on my return, a deUverance, on 
the part of the Council, as to their duties as a church, in regard to the 
evangehzation of the country, and in regard to the development of the 
lay talent in our church. Now, I want to carry out my j)lan, and to be 
able to say what in the opinion of this body, is the duty of .the churches 
in regard to the develoiDment of the slumbering lay talent in our churches, 
which I understood Dr. Todd to say was demanded in order to occupy 
the outlying stations of Christian effort, which are the germs of distinct 
churches, round about that ancient Puritan church. The case is the same 
with my own church. I believe there are men in my own church, who, 
for their own si)iritual good and for the growth of religion in the city 
of Brooklyn, need to have this urgency brought upon their understand- 
ings and hearts, and I, as their minister, desire to be instructed, that I may 
bring this conscientious obligation upon them; and I have risen for that 
purpose, — to know whether this Council are delivering themselves now 
upon that one point of Christian pohty. 

Hon. Mr. Walker, of Michigan. I have been interested in hearing 
the gentlemen who have spoken of the value of Congregational churches 
in our frontier cities. I have had something to do in planting churches 
in some of the frontier cities of the West. I am a Western man, in the 
matter of experience, and what I have to say will be concerning collegi- 
ate institutions, and that method of propagating Congregationalism; — in 
my opinion, after an experience of forty years, the most eflective method 
of ah in advancing the principles of the Puritans, and their forms, 
throughout the West, the North, and the South. I mean to speak but a 
very few moments in regard to the question of promoting Congrega- 
tional interests in the North, the South, and the West by emigration. 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 297 

The very best centers of Congregationalism, in the West, — the cen- 
ters from which have been diffused almost all the Congregational power 
that has been bnilt up at the West, — have been the centers that were 
colonized from Kew England, by JS'ew England men, b}^ ]N"ew England 
women, who have planted in those centers their institutions of learning, 
and they have gathered about them 'New England Congregationalists, 
their children have been educated by the institutions, and they have sent 
forth large numbers of men to preach the gospel, and of women to teach in 
the schools of the West; and they have carried with them spiritual Chris- 
tianity, and other institutions which are dear to this body to-day, — dearer 
than they were some years in the past. 

To illustrate the matter, let me refer to the institution with which I 
have been connected recently. That institution has sent four hundred 
teachers into the schools of Ohio, and one hundred ministers of the gos- 
pel into Ohio and the West in five years ; it has gathered about it men 
from Kew England, who have brought their children there to be edu- 
cated. I need not name the institution, but I have no hesitation in say- 
ing that it has revolutionized the politics of the State of Ohio, and 
through that institution, two-thirds of the Congregational churches that 
are planted in the State of Ohio were originated. 

Jl^ow, fathers and brethren, go from Ohio into Michigan, and there you 
will find a nucleus of Congregationalists settled in the townships. When 
they settle in a township, they bring in the school, the academy, and the 
college, and from that center goes forth the influence that propagates 
Congregational forms and Congregational forces through the wide West. 
It is not from the isolated churches in the country, it is not even from 
the isolated churches in the cities, that Congregational principles are 
difflised, — it is from these centers of power. 

The last words I have to say are these : I went into the pulpit from 
business as a layman, and I have endeavored by experiment to learn 
what was the best method of evangelizing the West and South. I have 
left the old places, and old associates, and the old dwelling, and have 
gone and lived in a log cabin in the extreme northern parts of the south- 
ern peninsula of Michigan, and I have settled five townships, and organ- 
ized a Congregational church in each of those townships; and in three 
of those townships there was nothing else but Eepublican votes cast at 
the last election. We expect to organize three more townships this 
year, and at the center of each of these townships will be a Congre- 
gational school; and in the center of Bay county, where there was not 
an inhabitant six years ago, we ezpect to establish a college that will 
propagate Congregational principles, and be the means of furnishing 
teachers through the south-western part of Michigan. We have now the 
means of accomplishing that end, in part, throughout that region. I see 
men here — men whom I respect as highly as any man here, though I 
respect every one of them with all my heart — who know that Congre- 
gational churches have been planted there. I see Dr. Beecher here; I 
see the agent of the Home Missionary Society here; and they know that 
to be the fact. We were on the ground first. We brought in Congre- 



298 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

gational forms from N'ew England, and planted them in the center of the 
townships of Southern Michigan; and we have made Congregational 
townships in Northern Michigan, and in the center of those townships 
we will plant the churches and schools which will disseminate Congre- 
gational principles away up in the mining region, where there is not a 
Congregational church, but which is now teeming with population, wait- 
ing to be visited by Congregational teachers. 

Dr. Todd presented an invitation from Hon. J. Z. Goodrich, 
collector of the port of Boston, to make an excursion down 
the harbor, in the U. S. steamer Pawtuxet, at such time as 
might suit their convenience. [See p. 384.] 

Kev. Mr. Clakk, of ;N"ew Hampshire. I want to say just one word. 
The difficulty with us in this part of the house is, that we do not know 
what all this talk is about. We have had some good speaking, but we 
were all ready to vote, and could have come to a vote just as well at 
eleven o'clock as now, and saved our time for other purposes. 

Rev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio. Permit me to say, that there has been 
a departure from what has been regarded as the order of business for 
to-day; to wit, that the report should be read, and discussed, and no 
vote taken until the last man had said his last word. We lost an hour 
in discussing the amendment this morning. , 

The reading of the Report on Evaaigelization was called for, 
and it was again read. 

Kev. Dr. Budington", of New York. Is it in order to take a vote 
on this subject? 

The Moderator. Both the reports are open for discussion, but 
when the debate shall cease, and we come to vote, we vote first upon the 
question of the adoption of the Report on Church Building. 

Rev. Dr. Budington". I move that the debate now cease. 

Rev. Dr. Button,, of Connecticut. I hope we shall not have the pre- 
vious question in this body. I wish, sir, you would allow me one word 
of explanation. I desire to say, that there appeared before the commit- 
tee a great number of gentlemen, representing various institutions of 
the West and South, and various destitute parts of the country. We 
told them we could not embody their details in our report, but that the 
substance of what they had to say was what should be said before this 
Council, to stir up our minds to the work which it had been doubted 
whether we should enter upon or not. Therefore the committee made 
their report that this matter should be laid before the Council, and the 
debate continued through the day, and into the evening, if necessary, 
that these deliverances might be made to stir us up, and that then we 
should vote. 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 299 

Rev. Dr. Budington. Well, I am stirred up now — I am ready to vote. 
[Laughter and applause.] Mr. Moderator, cui hono ? We are a nation 
of speakers, or have been, our English friends think, and can talk with- 
out limit. I am willing to hear talking if any brother has any thing 
fresh to say; and if any brother desires an opportunity to address the 
Council, I will not press the motion I have made. 

Eev. Mr. Twining, of California. I hope, brethren of the Council, 
that what I have to say will not seem to come from one who is not inter- 
ested in this subject, or who has nothing to say that is worth saying. 
The churches of California, who have sent me here, desire that you and 
the churches you represent should be informed of the peculiar state of 
things upon that coast, and that, in consequence, they should have the 
benefit of your prayers, of such dehberations as you engage in here, 
and of such plans as you adopt. 

The churches of California full well understand the great importance 
of- that field which is now, opening in the South. They would do nothing 
whatever, in urging their claim, to the prejudice of the claims of the 
churches in that field. They fully understand, and have always imder- 
stood, the great claims which the churches of the West, and which the 
new fields of the West, have upon the Christian public. But they feel 
that there has risen among them a new state, — a state and a civilization 
which are to be developed under new conditions, and which, as surely as 
the sun continues to roll over those lands, will be a great, rich civiliza- 
tion; that there will grow up there a population most numerous and 
most powerful, and which is destined to act a most important part in the 
future of this country; and they feel that upon them is rolled a great 
burden of responsibility, in the time to come, to possess this field and to 
win it to Christ. 

I can not go through here, in the very few moments that remain, with all 
the details and statements which I should like to make; but there is one 
view and one idea which I wish to present to you, and that is this : that this 
California sphere, and this whole Pacific sphere, and all the churches con- 
nected with that sphere, are distinct and separate from the churches in 
the East. It is away off toward the setting sun, and there is no connec- 
tion between you and it. When the churches of the West fall back from 
the outposts, they fall back upon an older country, upon stronger 
churches, upon more numerous churches, upon colleges, and at last they 
come back to Plymouth Rock, — to what we consider the foundation of 
Is'ew England. But when Californians fall back from their cities, when 
they move away from San Erancisco, they fall back upon the wild Indian 
and the wilderness. There is a distinct, separate State, which has its 
own center, and in one sense is far away by itself, and yet which is to be 
the germ of a new civilization, and a civilization developed under pecu- 
liar circumstances, and differing from any thing else upon this continent. 
It is of the utmost importance that a State so growing, that a State so 
separated from the other parts of our country, and from the churches of 
our country, should have the fullest benefit of all the plans of evangeli- 
zation which are adopted by this Council. They feel that they must 



300 EVANGELIZATION CHUUCH BUILDING. 

have help, and the principal help which they want at this time is men. 
It is men to preach the gospel; it is men to occupy the vacant posts; it 
is men to stand up amid the mining population in the new towns and in 
the new cities, and to preach Christ in such a way that they shall be 
heard, and shall have an effect in shaping the growth and giving charac- 
ter to that people. They are greatly thankful for such pecuniary help 
as has been or may be sent; but what they want, and want most of all, 
is men, — men to pray and labor with the people, and preach to them. 
I recollect receiving a call from my brother Atkinson, when I had the 
fortune to be in Oregon. He did not know, at that time, that he should 
be here, and be able by his own word of mouth to urge his plea, and the 
burthen, the refrain of what he said to me was, — " Send us men — good, 
faithful, earnest pastors — to fill these pul^oits, to do this duty; " and the 
very last words that were spoken to me, as I was on board a steamer in 
the harbor of San Francisco, were, — " Remember, there are six or 
eight new churches that are without pastors, and that will look to the 
East and to the older churches to send them men; and we will give the 
promise that we will support them." ISTow, brethren, there stand, 
to my certain knowledge, within the boundaries of California, eight 
churches, in communities that will support the men, if they shall be sent 
there. They want these men to come to them and labor, and if they 
come, they will support them. Therefore, what I have to say is, that 
the great want, the first petition of those churches is, that you will send 
them men, who shall be men, living men, to work with them, among 
them, and for them. 

Eev. Dr. Patton, of Connecticut, moved that when the Conn- 
cil adjourn, it be until eight o'clock in the evening, and that 
the debate continue until half past nine, and then the vote be 
taken. After some discussion, the question was put and the 
motion lost. 

Eev. Mr. Webb, of Massachusetts. I want to occupy one moment of 
the time of the Council, to say this. We are here proposing to give men 
to this work of evangelizing the continent. We are proposing to raise 
$750,000 for the same thing. How are you going to do it? Do you 
expect to get any thing out of my pocket? There isn't much there. I 
thought this morning, when these resolutions were read, that I was ready 
to vote ; but the more I think about this, the less I am ready to vote. I 
am not nearly so ready as I was this morning; and why? Because I 
am beginning to feel a personal responsibility in this matter; and if you 
vote this thing, if I have a son or a daughter, I don't see but I am com- 
mitted to give that son or daughter for a teacher ; and if I have a hun- 
dred dollars, I don't see but I am committed to give that. I don't want 
to vote, until, with a new consecration, a new baptism, I can do it. • If 
you are ready for that, let us vote. [Voices — "We are ready."] Then 
I say one thing more, and only one. When this Council was calledj it 



EVATs^GELIZATION CHUECH BUILDIXG. 301 

was proposed that the churches that sent delegates here, should take up 
a collection to defray the expenses of this Council. We have heard what 
the result of that was. Kow, it is easy to vote money; it is not quite so 
easy to get it. Not one half the money has been raised that is necessary 
to pay the expenses of this Council; not one half the churches have re- 
sponded to that vote with a dollar. It is idle for us to vote, and go away 
and say, " Well, the church at Hartford, or the church at Chicago, or 
somewhere else, may raise this money." The simple question is, Are 
you ready, brother, to give your thousand dollars for this purpose? 
That is the feeUng I want to Jfind in me, before I vote, and pledge myself 
before Almighty God and my brethren here to accomphsh this thing. 

A motion was here made that the vote be taken, which was 
lost. A motion to adjourn was also lost. 

Eev. Dr. Patton, of Illinois. Mr. Moderator, — Dr. Beecher, in the re- 
rdarks which he addressed to the brethren, properly stated that this money 
question is the great jDractical question; by which he did not mean that 
there shoidd be a unanimity of sentiment in this body with reference to the 
propriety of raising the money, but that there should be a unity of deter- 
mination on the part of this body to secure that money. I wish to say one 
thing, which is a practical illustration of the spirit of the West. I think I 
have a right to say, of the characteristic spirit of the West, where the move- 
ment for the assembling of this Council was initiated. A layman of the 
city of Chicago, feeling a deep interest in the objects proposed by this 
body, assured me, that if the proposition now before this body to raise 
the money specified in this recommendation could be carried out, he 
would give $10,000 toward the amount. [Loud applause.] I have been 
waiting all the afternoon for an opportunity to state this fact, in the hope 
that it would stir up other laymen to follow suit, and the pastors of lay- 
men to manifest a kindred spirit, so that we might electrify one another 
and go home to rouse our congregations to take hold of this work in 
earnest. That is the reason why we need to prolong the debate ; but I 
see the brethren are more disposed to vote for a sentiment than to take 
measures to have that sentiment carried out. 

Some discussion followed on a proposition to have an evening 
session, and a motion to that effect passed, but was subsequently 
reconsidered, so many members being entertained out of town 
that it was thought hiexpedient to hold evening sessions. 

At six o'clock the Council adjourned, after singing the Dox- 
ology in long meter. • 

SEyE:N^TH DAY, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21. 

The Council was called to order at nine o'clock, and prayer 
offered by assistant moderator Hammond. The minutes were 
read and approved. 



302 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

Oil motion of Hon. Linus Child, of Boston, the resolu- 
tion adopted yesterday, authorizing a committee to proceed to 
Washington, to present to the President the resolutions on the 
state of the country, was reconsidered, for the purpose of 
amendment. 

Mr. Child then moved to amend by substituting, that the res- 
olutions, attested by the officers of the Convention, be trans- 
mitted to the President of the United States by the moderator 
of this Council. 

The amendment was adopted and the resolution passed. 

Rev. Mr. Quint, in behalf of the business committee, pre- 
sented the order of business of the day recommending, — 

That the discussion be continued on the subject before the Council 
yesterday afternoon until quarter before eleven o'clock, and that the vote 
be then taken; and that each speaker be limited to twelve minutes. The 
committee also recommended, that at the close of the devotional exer- 
cises, the first business be the report of the committee appointed to pre- 
pare a response to the foreign delegations, to be followed by the report 
on the letter from Italy, and the report of the committee to whom was 
referred the paper on the Declaration of Faith. 

Rev. Mr. Adams, of New Hampshire, moved to amend by 
inserting eight minutes, instead of twelve, and the amendment 
was carried. 

A motion was made to amend by substituting quarter after 
ten, instead of quarter before eleven, but the motion was lost, 
and the report adopted. 

EYA:N'GELIZATI0K AI^T> CHUKCH BLTILDIlS'a. 

Eev. Mr. Burr, of Connecticut. I think, sir, that we may safely ven- 
ture to assume that the gentlemen of this Council j^ossess a competent 
knowledo-e of the relio^ious condition of the South and West. We fullv 
recognize the importance of that work, and the need of promptly plant- 
ing in all those regions religious institutions of the right sort. But how? 
— that is the point to be considered. Will the building of a Congrega- 
tional House in the city of Boston do very much toward that end? Will 
the building of a showy Congregational churcl^ in the city of Washing- 
ton help this matter very much? Will it be well, sir, to open the doors 
of the Christian ministry to an untrained crowd of Christian laborers, to 
meet the demands of the South and West? Allow me to say, that I 
think this is not the wisest plam. 'No one shall exceed me in the desire 
to have lay labor in the church, and in the service of God. I should be 



EYANGELIZATIOX CHURCH BUILDING. 303 

very glad to have oiu' Cliristiau laymen, by thousands and tens of thou- 
sands, go every where, teaching the religion of Jesus Christ, telling the 
story of Jesus, estabhshing Sabbath schools, estabUshing prayer-meet- 
ings, and reading excellent sermons, under the title and with the distinc- 
tion and standing of " Bible readers," or " lay evangelists." I should be 
exceedingly glad to see this, and, if it were necessary, I would invoke a 
persecution, to scatter our Christian laymen abroad on this Christian 
business, as it scattered the primitive laymen. Oh, yes, sir, I am in favor 
of multiplying the Christian force in the service of Christ by the whole 
multiphcation table. At the same time, I must confess I am not in favor 
of admitting to the full standing and status of the Christian ministry an 
untrained throng of even good men. Sir, " with a great price have we 
obtained this freedom ; " and if there are any persons who are put upon 
us as free born by the dispensation of Providence, — men who are born at 
the point which we have reached only by patient study and culture,— why, 
sir, we will take them by the hand, as we would take the hand of Mr. 
Spurgeon, or of Mr. Whitefield, and introduce them into the gospel min- 
istry. But, sir, it seems to me it would lower the standard and the stand- 
ing and the influence of the sacred profession immeasurably to introduce 
this class of men, in the manner proposed, into the ministry. 

Eev. Dr. Duttox, of Connecticut. ^Vill my brother allow me to 
interrupt him one moment. He loses sight of one johrase in the report. 
It authorizes the licensing of laymen " by the proper evangehcal bodies 
with such conditions as they may deem best." 

Eev. Mr. Burr. But I am not sure that it would be wise even to send 
abroad a class of non-ministerial laymen, to be supported, even in a 
modest way, by a board established for this xDurpose. I confess that 
yesterday I had a different view of the case, and I was prepared to say 
I would do all I possibly could for the purpose of securing a body of 
lay evangehsts to go forth ; but on mature reflection, it seems to me it is 
inexpedient. I am persuaded that we have agencies enough. God bless 
the American Home Missionary Society, which has done so much for the 
West! God bless the American Missionary Association, which is able to 
do so much for the South! Sir, if we place $750,000 in the hands of 
these organizations, to spend on the platform of Christianity, and are 
prepared to do our work, it strikes me we shall do more and do it faster 
for the cause of evangelization in the South and West, than can be done 
by any new scheme that may be proposed. 

Eev. Mr. Atkixson, of Oregon. Mr. Moderator^ fathers^ and 'breth- 
ren^ — I have not occupied your time one moment since I came into this 
Council. I am sorry that I am here alone from Oregon, but you sent me 
out alone, in 1847, when we had Oregon only on the Pacific, — then a 
territory containing 300,000 square miles. We had no California, or Ne- 
vada then. Oregon has now 100,000 square miles only, because you have 
taken ofl' three territories from it, that are to be three States, — Wash- 
ington, Idaho, and Montana; but I may claim, perhaps, properly, to rep- 
resent what was originally Oregon. The present Oregon will still be 
divided, leaving about 30,000 square miles in the Willamette vaUey, and 



304 EA'AXGELIZATIOX CHURCH BUILDIXG. 

another State between that and Idaho, a mining region; so that I may 
say, in brief, we shall have five States in the area originally called Ore- 
gon; — an important fact, politically, certainly; when it is felt in the 
senate, it will be felt as an important fact in the councils of the nation. 
But, sir, the time which yon give us does not allow me to touch upon 
but one i3oint. I must leave the agricultural capabilities of the Willa- 
mette Yalley, where we have a few churches, and a college started; I 
must leave the great lumber and coast region of Washington Territory, 
west of the Cascade Mountains, from which your Maine lumbermen are 
carrying timber all over the Pacific, — to California, the Hawaiian Islands, 
the Society Islands, the whole Polynesian group, — and suppljing even 
Calcutta, and sending their spars to England and France, — a region des- 
tined to become the great lumber field of the whole world; I must leave 
all that region, — where we have not a Congregational church or min- 
ister and only one in "Washihgton Territory, and he but three miles 
north of the Oregon line, — I must leave all that region, and speak 
briefly of one simple interest which I have felt to be a growing interest, 
and one marking a feature in God's present dealings with us as a nation. 
I refer to the mining interest. That came upon us suddenly, and we of the 
West felt it more than you did. I was then preaching in a little church 
in Oregon city; a great room was. filled night after night, and Sabbath 
after Sabbath, when news came, " There is gold in Cahfornia." Some of 
us tried to discredit it. It was repeated, — " There is gold in California, 
that you can pick up by the handful." Our men started, and they left 
me with only women and children to preach to. It was said, '' You 
can't get to California except by sea." These men, who had crossed the 
Eocky Mountains, said, " We will go to California." The Fur Company's 
men said, — " You can never get there; there is only a track; " but they 
said, " We will go." They loaded what provisions they had upon their 
wagons, and they rolled down the mountains, and reached Sacramento, 
traveling seven hundred miles, where never a wagon had gone before. 
And they came back, and said, " There is gold in California," and others 
started. I attempted to stop some of my church with the text, " He 
that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent; " but the text was not 
sufficient to check them; they went over it; and for seventeen years, we 
have had an excitement that has taken the church members and all 
classes of men, and left us the women and a few men, who could not go 
very well, to sustain our church operations. I was almost necessarily 
obliged to examine this question, and ask myself, " What does God, in 
his providence, mean, by sending us out here to form churches, and 
then taking away our followers?" — and, sir, I have learned tliis lesson, 
that God had a mighty magnet in the Sierra ISTevada, and Blue Moun- 
tain regions, and I have learned that our people have just as much right 
to go mining as your Cape Cod fishermen have to go fishing. What 
has been the result? They have discovered, not only the mines of Cali- 
fornia, but the silver mines of Kevada, and they have made a noble State 
within the last five years, — the first to adopt the amendment to the con- 
stitution. [ApiDlause.] We are lojsil upon the Pacific. I would not 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 305 

forget that; and you have helped us some. We had slavery in Oregon, 
but your home missionaries stood up for the " higher lavr," for freedom 
and liberty, and their influence has been felt, and we are loyal there as 
yet. 

TTell, sir, those men, tempted by the riches of California, have not only 
discovered mines in that State, but thence annually raid^ so to speak, into 
the mountain regions of Oregon, — those barren, God-forsaken regions, 
which, apparently, had no compensation in them for their discoverers, — 
and they have discovered mines over a range five hundred miles in length 
and four hundred and fifty in width. These mining spots are developing 
gold and silver in large quantities. I was told, by an agent of TTells, Targo, 
& Go's Express, that we are now sending two millions a month of the 
precious metal from Oregon; and those men who have lately discovered 
silver mines north of Nevada are now investing hundreds of thousands 
of dollars in stamp mills, without the least fear. I have conversed with 
men who are ready to invest all their property in stamp mills, for the 
development of the silver and gold in these mines. 

^ow, what is the meaning of this immense mining magnet? It means 
that God intends to draw population there. He has made a California, 
a Xevada, and an Oregon there; he is making an Idaho and two other 
States there. "What is this population? It is heterogeneous. It comes 
from all the States of the Union; and, lest I forget it, let me say, it 
comes now very largely from the South. [At this point, the rule limiting 
speakers to eight minutes was suspended, and Mr. Atkinson was allowed 
twelve minutes, in order that Western missionaries might be put upon a 
par with their Eastern brethren.] We have in Oregon, people from Mis- 
som'i, Arkansas, and the exti*eme xDioneering regions of the West. It 
was hard work to labor among them, — it is yet, though they know now, 
as they did not when I first went there, what a CongregationaHst is. We 
are drawing somewhat largely from the Korth now, but more largely,. 
as I have said, from the South. After the battlcof Pea Kidge, in which 
Price was defeated, the men who could get away from the Southern 
army, went over to Oregon and Idaho, and they changed the delegate of 
Idaho last fall, and came very near changing the electoral vote of Oregon. 
The brother from Missouri told us that the central counties of that State 
are to be depopulated. He did not tell us where the people are going, 
but he knew, and I know, where they are going. They are going to 
Idaho and Oregon. You have the whole jS'orth to take care of the 
South; you send the whole South out to Idaho and Oregon, and you send 
half a dozen men to take care of them. '^0% even that! I came here 
for six men, and I fear I shall not get one to go to that coast. We have 
also an enterprising population. It takes an enterprising man to start with 
his family and cross two thousand miles beyond the outposts of which 
Dr. Post spoke so well yesterday; and it takes enterprising men to open 
new countries so distant from any bulwark of strength to fall back upon. 
They are enterprising men; they are noble men, in many respects ; they 
are liberal men. They are earnest men — those miners; they are men in 
an unsettled condition, to a certain extent, but if you will only give them 
20 



806 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

a stand-point around which tliey can cluster, give them any kind of or- 
ganized institution which commends itself to their common sense and 
Christian convictions, and they will gather around it with characteristic 
energy and zeal. 

Kow (as I must be very brief), what we want in this mining district 
between the Cascades and the Eocky Mountains is a few men to go in 
there and be sustained, and we want church buildings. We will do our 
part. We want men to go to Euby city, and Carson city, and Le Grand, 
and Boise, and Idaho city, and the other principal points in the mining 
regions and put down their feet and say, " Here is a church, here are 
men who will help you, and I will start the matter and preach the gospel 
to you, and establish a common school and a Sunday school, and get 
matters well organized." That is what we want; and I came here for 
nothing else but to say to you that God has put upon us, who have been 
laboring with those little churches, a tremendous burden, and that we 
feel, more strongly than I can express in words, that we must have' help; 
and to ask this Congregational Council to feel with us, that we must have 
help, and must have it now. 

Eev. Mr. Kedzie, of Michigan. I understand that when we get 
through with the business of this Council, and pass a vote of thanks to 
the good people of Boston for their kind hospitality, and to the officers 
for the faithful discharge of their duties, there is to be proposed a vote 
of thanks to the bretlu-en who have not said any thing. [Laughter.] I 
had hoj)ed to come in for my share of that, but I shall have to forfeit it, 
because there is one point that ought to be brought up ; and as it has not 
been, I want to speak to it. 

We have been perfecting our scheme, lubricating our machinery, and 
now the question is, whether we can get force enough into it to make it 
go — whether we can raise this sum of $750,000. In order to stimulate 
our friends to this, we have been looking at the needs and wants and 
greatmess of the work» We have had brethren from Oregon and the 
South and all around the country, laboring to create a vacuum, to see if 
we can not suck this money out of the churches ; but it don't come in 
that way. It may help some, but there is another force needful. How 
is it that during these last years of the war, we have been able to get, for 
the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, milhons of dollars? It is be- 
cause there has been patriotism in the hearts of the people, including the 
women; and because there has been a sympathy with our soldiers who 
have gone forth for the defense of our country. This power, this pro- 
pulsive power of patriotism, has secured large sums. It is not by creat- 
ing this vacuum in front of us that we shall be able to raise this amount; 
there must be a propulsive power of a higher character working within 
us. In our meetings at home, before we came here, there was a looking 
upward, with the eye of faith, for a special and remarkable outpouring 
of God's Spirit, and it is by the power of that Spirit, by the revival of 
His work, by the power of piety in om* hearts, by the indwelling of God's 
Spirit in the churches, that this money is to be brought out. It is by " the 
propulsive power," as Dr. Chalmers says, " of a higher aflection." And 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 307 

now, whether that shall be the case, whether an outpouring of God's 
Spirit shall flood this country, leading all to feel that they live only for 
the great work of evangelizing the world, will depend upon the spirit of 
faith and the spirit of prayer in the churches. Whether there shall be 
that, will depend upon the si3irit of faith and the spirit of prayer in the 
ministry. Whether there shall be that, will depend upon the spirit of 
faith and the spirit of prayer in this Council. Here, then, we can decide 
the question whether that money shall come. I know it is of God's own 
sovereign free grace and mercy that his Spirit e^^er comes ; but when it 
comes, it comes by this preparation of prayer and faith in the churches 
and in the ministry. When that Spirit comes, when the Spirit of the 
Lord shall do for us what pati'iotism has already done (and it can do 
what patriotism never has done), then shall this work be accomplished, 
and all shall feel that they are not their own, but that every thing they 
have belongs to Christ. I have laid up during some fifteen or twenty 
years in the ministry, a little fortune for my children. I have got three, 
and I have laid up a hundred dollars for each of them; and I believe that 
the time may come when it will have to go into the treasury of the Lord. 
We have got to wake up to new conceptions of the power of God and 
the claims of God, and a new experience of what God can do for us. 
[Applause.] The gospel was meant to save just such a world as this, 
and it can do it, and God has organized an agency adequate to do it; and 
when these ministers shall be thus imbued with the spirit of the Lord, and 
shall show the churches what God gives them money for, and instruct 
them liberally on that point, there will be no difficulty. 

Eev. Mr. Bliss, of Tennessee. It is with no desire of my oavdl to 
occupy the attention of this Council that I speak at this time. I was 
requested to come here and bear testimony to the wants of the South, and 
I have come from Memphis for that purpose. I first began my missionary 
work in the northern part of Missouri, as the exploring agent of the Amer- 
ican Home Missionary Society; and having some little part in doing a 
work there, I was requested to visit Memphis, by the same Society. I 
went there, certainly feeling that there might be an open door, and that 
something might be done, but I did not expect to stay there. I found, 
however, that, having driven the nail, I must clinch it on the spot, and I 
therefore remained two months, and secured the organization of a Con- 
gregational church almost in the very center of the rebellious territory. 
This is an important point, and we have felt that the wants of the South 
were the wants to be specially considered by this Council (not to the 
exclusion of others), for there is a wide and efiectual door open in that 
great region, and we want to know what is to be done. 

We have, at the outset, met with opposition, — just as we expected, — 
because we are Congregationahsts. One man intruded himself upon the 
platform after I had preached a sermon to a large audience on the subject 
of Christian Union, and commenced his remarks by saying that he 
endorsed every word I had uttered, and then said, " After all, what is a 
Congregational church? Why Universalists, and Unitarians, and Spir- 
ituahsts,aud Come-outers, and every other form of ism is Congregation- 



308 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

alism." These are the things we have had brought up to oppose us at 
the outset; but these things did not avail. We have organized a church 
numbering forty members ; we have a congregation of from one hundred 
and fifty to three hundred; we have a Sabbath school of one hundred 
naembers ; and we raised last year for the support of the church and inci- 
dental purposes, $2500. They have delegated me to represent them here, 
and to secure, if possible, the means for erecting a church. "We purpose 
to be very modest in our request. We do not ask for any $100,000 or 
$50,000, but we want a few thousand dollars to give us a start. In other 
words, we do not ask you to do our work, but simply to give us a lift. 
We have been self-sustaining so far. We have had no help from the 
American Home Missionary Society. Land is very high in Memphis. 
We shall have to pay $10,000 for a building lot. It is the great central 
point in the valley of the Mississippi; it is a place to be occu]Died as the 
base of operations, — as the secretary of the Home Missionary Society 
wrote me again and again, — and we are entering upon that work. Kot 
only have we organized a Congregational church there, but measures 
have been taken to secure preaching to the colored people. We have 
also secured the appointment of a district secretary of the American 
Tract Society; we are planning a religious depository, and endeavoring 
to secure there various agencies, so that we may be an efiective base for 
that whole region. 

Society in the South is in a perfectly chaotic state: lay that down as 
an axiom. Where our soldiers have gone in and occupied the field, 
l!^orthern men go in and occu^Dy the ground. They already control two- 
thirds of the business of Memphis, and some of the merchants are 
extending branches into the country. The old slave-holders in the coun- 
try will tell you, " You can not raise cotton, you can not raise produce, 
with free labor." One old slave-holder told me, " You can't raise cotton 
enough with free labor to make night-caps for the old women." That 
idea fills the minds of these people, and they feel there is nothing for 
them to do. Property is changing hands; the great plantations are to 
be cut up into farms, and then what is to become of the old settlers? 
Why, sir, they are aU moving like a great tidal wave, across Missouri, 
intoTdaho, Colorado, and Kevada, and that whole Western region; and, as 
one gentleman recently from Matamoras told me, there is a steady stream 
setting forward into Mexico. The tide of events leads them to move 
away, to change their old associations. They feel, now that the rebellion 
is cast down, that they must go about in that community and in the nation 
with the curse of Cain upon their brows. We are to go in and occupy 
the great central points. They must be occupied immediately and efiect- 
ively, and we ask your sympathy, your prayers, and your pecuniary 
assistance ; for we can not enter that great field and occupy those large 
cities without much pecuniary assistance. 

Let me say now one word in regard to the colored people. They are 
in a most interesting condition. A great many evil reports are started 
with regard to mutinies. It was said there was a great mutiny in Fort 
Pickering. I inquired of the commandant, and he told me that there 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 309 

was not the shadow of any thing of the kind. Yet that story went 
through all the Northern papers, with the design of prejudicing your 
minds. Beware of these stories. The wonder is, that these blacks have be- 
haved so well as they have. [Applause.] The wonder is, that, after all the 
provocations they have received from their old masters, who have marked 
their backs with stri23es, and sold their children before their eyes, — the 
wonder is, that they can keep their hands off of them. But we bless 
God that they, have been so forbearing, and now we must beware of 
prejudice against them. Do not listen to the evil reiDorts that come to 
you, for very few of them have any foundation. The schools for colored 
children are flourishing. There are already two thousand scholars in the 
colored schools of Memphis. We have already a high-school established 
among the colored people. We want an academy, a theological semi- 
nary, and a college established there, to train these high-school scholars 
for preachers and teachers of the gospel, to four millions of colored peo- 
ple. This is a work of great interest, and it must be done. While the 
demands are great fi-om all parts of the country, here is the whole South- 
ern region, with four millions of people in darkness and ignorance to be 
lifted up and enlightened and blessed by the gospel and the free institu- 
tions of the iN'orth. 

And here let me say one word in regard to our own church order. 
We need in the South the breaking of the manacles on pulpit and press 
and speech and free institutions generally, just as much as the slave 
needed to have his manacles broken. This is as simple as an axiom. 
You find that the curse of slavery has worked everywhere, and poisoned 
every drop of blood in the social system. Every single church in Mem- 
phis was swept overboard by the tide of treason; and what was true 
there was true in most of the Southern cities. Now, we must jDlant 
there the institutions of New England, and among them, our own liberty- 
breathing and liberty-loving Congregationalism. I believe, under God, 
it is to this church order, so free, so liberty-loving, so careful of the rights 
of the churches, that New England owes her first and chiefest superiority 
among the States of this nation. 

Eev. Mr. Guernsey, of Iowa. That report says that our chief want, 
after all, is not money ; and I think there is more truth in that statement 
than some of the brethren have seemed to admit. We want men^ too, 
who will be wilhng to undertake a work that no amount of money would 
ever persuade any man to undertake. Since I have been here some 
brother said in this Council or elsewhere, speaking of a particular field, 
" We don't want any six-hundred-dollar men for that place." Sir, we have 
scores of men on our prairies, whom we would not exchange for your two- 
thousand-dollar men [Applause], who are living on salaries of four, five 
and six hundred dollars. If they are six-hundred-dollar men, it is not 
certainly on the ground of the measure of influence they have exerted in 
behalf of Christ and in behalf of the country. If they are six-hundred- 
dollar men, it is not on the ground that they could not command in their 
profession a higher compensation than that. They occupy the fields in 
which God has placed therti, because it seems to them that the preaching 



310 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

of the gosjDel is needed there, and that it is their duty, in response to 
God's call, to preach it with such compensation as the church shall give. 
In the State of Iowa, which, as brother Bliss said to me a few moments 
ago, is an old field, — it is almost twenty-Jive years old, and we have one 
hundred and sixty churches, — in the State of Iowa, there is territory 
larger than the whole State of Massachusetts put together, lying in a 
body without a single Congregational church and without a single Con- 
gregational minister engaged in the work of preaching ; and there are 
some fifteen or twenty counties in which there is scarcely any preaching 
at all. Send us your six-hundred-dollar men, if you have them, and we in 
Iowa will make two-thousand-dollar men of them in a little while. [Ap- 
plause.] In Iowa, in any new country, where things grow by the jump, 
men grow in the same way. 

I have had application, since I have been at this Council, from a dozen 
brethren, perhaps, for o]Di)ortunities to labor in Iowa, but they want just 
such fields of labor as are supplied, or as we could supply every day in 
the year, while we have scores of fields for which no application comes. 
Send us your men. A year ago, a good brother in Massachusetts, a 
classmate of mine, — and a noble fellow he is, too, — wrote me that he 
wanted to come to Iowa. But what sort of a parish do you suppose he 
asked for? He wanted, first, a village of some two or three thousand in- 
habitants; and we have plenty of them where the gospel is needed; he 
wanted an academy; he wanted a meeting-house; he wanted as good 
society as he should leave behind him in ISTew England. Those are all 
very pleasant things, and no man is to blame for asking for them; but 
he might as well have asked me to locate him in Paradise as to make 
such a proposition in relation to my field. [Laughter.] That jDortion 
of this report which refers to the employment of lay talent in preaching, 
seems to me to present the only prospect for any thing like an adequate 
supjDly of laborers in our field. We want to take such men as we have 
in our churches, — and there are not a few of them, — lawyers and phy- 
sicians, and give them the sanction of Associational approbation, and send 
them out to preach the gospel (even while they continue in their secular 
business), in the destitute neighborhoods that lie in the regions of coun- 
try, ten, fifteen, twenty, or fifty miles between our several churches. We 
want such men; and if now and then we find one among them who 
proves to be skillful in the work, and shows by his efliciency in it, and 
by the education he gets in it, — and that is the be§t sort of education we 
have, in some respects, — that he is adapted to make the ministry of the 
gospel his life-work, then we will ordain him, in accordance with the 
recommendation of this report. And that is no new thing with us. We 
have done it over and over and over again ; and we have from one to 
two thousand men of that stamp at work in Iowa, and all we ask of you 
is, that you will let them work on, with their salaries of four, five, or six 
hundred dollars, and not tempt them away, as has sometimes been the 
case with your ofiers of two thousand dollars. 

One thing more. I believe in the importance of the Southern work. 
I believe that all the impression that brother *Bliss and others who have 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 311 

spoken here can make will be all too small in behalf of it. But I believe, 
also, that the only way to carry on that work to a final and successful 
consummation is to take care of that great field through which the influ- 
ences are to pass which are to reach and mold the South in the future. 
Something has been accredited to us in the work of subjugating the 
South in connection with the rebellion; and that has been largely due, 
as has been already said, to the influences of our Home Missionary 
Society. Now, take care of that field, and we will roll a tide of moral 
power into the South, in years to come, that shall be as resistless as were 
the hosts that marched under the command of Grant and Sherinan. [Ap- 
plause.] We have there one college planted by Home Missionary efforts, 
and in that college we have already trained teachers who are at work in 
the South, and we will gladly train more of them, — all we can raise up 
on that ground, and all you will send us; and we will train the black 
teachers, if brother Bliss will give them to us, for their work. While, 
then, we seize these important points at the South, and press the work 
there as rapidly as possible, let us have the men for our work at the 
West, and let us prosecute that as a part of the work of the South — for 
a part of the work of the South it is. 

The Modekatoe. I jDropose to make a very short speech, which is 
all ready to my hands, and which I think will be accei)table to the audi- 
ence : — 

The Moderator then read a note from a friend of Southern 
Evangelization, expressing his interest in the cause, — signed 
" A Friend of Liberty." ^ The Moderator proceeded : — 

Accompanying this note is a bond of the city of Boston for $1000. 
[Loud applause.] I beg leave to say to other gentlemen, similarly situ- 
ated, that in spite of orders of the day, or any motion to adjourn, the 
moderator will entertain such motions. [Laughter.] 

Eev. Mr. Crawford, of Colorado. (The rule was suspended to allow 
Mr. Crawford to speak twelve minutes.) Coming as I do a distance of 
two thousand miles, — seven hundred of it by coach, — to attend this 
Council, I feel as though I might presume upon your attention for a few 
moments. Coming at an expense of $500, more than half of which I 
expect to pay from my own private purse, I feel as though I would like 
to get, partially, at least, the worth of my money. 

A day or two since, the question was put to me, " How far do you live 
fi'om Xowhere ? " [Laughter.] I replied, that my home was in Central 
City, seven hundred miles west of Atchison, forty miles west of Denver, 
one hundred miles north of Pike's Peak, six hundred miles east of Salt 
Lake City, and eight thousand feet above the level of the sea. [Laugh- 
ter.] Standing on this watch-tower, and looking abroad over the moun- 
tains, I ^ill tell you what I behold. In the first place, looking west, I 
see the new State of Kevada. I see there Virginia City, containing a jDop- 

1 Neither the note, nor a copy of it, appears in the phonographic report, nor in the 
official record of the secretaries. Inquiries in various directions have proved unavailing, 
and it is necessarily omitted. 



312 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

ulation of from ten to fifteen thousand, and Kees' Eiver Mines containing 
as large a population; and we have no Congregational minister in that 
State. Looking at Montana, north of Colorado, I see there an immense 
population, and one city, Virginia City, again, containing a popula- 
tion of from six to ten thousand. I know we have many jSTew England 
brethren among the Congregational people there. I know that among 
them are the families of the governor and attorney-general of the ter- 
ritory. I have heard of two ministers in that great city; one a Baptist 
minister, who is clerk of the court, and cook of a boarding-club, and 
the other a Methodist minister, who, I believe, attends more strictly to 
the Lord's business. Now, we want Congregational ministers at once in 
that territory. Looking west again, I see the State of Utah, and I have 
been interested of late to know that we have now, in the very metropolis 
of Mormondom, a Congregational church of eighteen members. [Ap- 
plause.] When Dr. Kendall, secretary of the Kew School Presbyterian 
Board made his overland tour, last summer, he made a visit to Brigham 
Young, at Salt Lake City, and put to him this question, — "Have you 
any objection to my sending a missionary to the Gentile population of 
this city ? " for the Gentile population there now numbers from six 
hundred to one thousand people. He said, " None at all ; and you may 
send missionaries among the Mormons, if you like." President Blan- 
chard (of Wheaton College) said there should be a minister there at once, 
and, coming to Denver, spoke to Mr. McLeod. With the enthusiasm 
of a western man, Mr. McLeod fired up at the prospect of preaching Christ 
where he had never yet been heard. I told him to go and God would be 
with him, and I would get another man to supply Denver. He went, 
and has organized a church of eighteen members. He has a congrega- 
tion of three or four hundred people, of whom many are Mormons, and 
has a Sabbath school of four hundred and fifty. He also preaches at 
Camp Douglas. The people have raised for the support of the church 
$2000 a year. Mr. McLeod wrote to me that he desired me to represent 
him in this Council. 

Now let me come to Colorado. The first city which meets you after 
you have crossed the x)lains is Denver, — a city covering an area a mite 
and a half long and three-quarters of a mile wide, regularly laid out 
with large brick buildings, three or four stories high, built with consid- 
erable architectural beauty, and which would do no discredit to your 
Washington street. There are firms in Denver, which in the spring sea- 
son will sell not less than $10,000 a day, day after day. There is in that 
city a Methodist church building that cost over $20,000; an Old School 
Presbyterian church which cost over $5000; an Episcopal church which 
cost some three or four thousand dollars; and the Baptist minister has 
lately raised $8000 at the East, to which he will add some $5000 there, to 
build a Baptist church; and we have a little Congregational church, with a 
flock of twelve members. In the year 1859, a Congregational church 
might have been organized there of twenty-five members, and if a man 
could have been found to occupy the field, we should have had there a 
large structure, and a self-supporting church, giving their money into the 
foreign and home missionary treasuries. Dr. Beecher can tell you the 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 313 

stoiy. There are men there to-day who blame him for not sending min- 
isters there, wlien in trnth there were no ministers to be fomid. I had 
the honor of founding the first Congregational church established on the 
slopes of the Kocky Mountains, and since then, I have organized, with 
the help of others, another church. My church numbers twenty-nine 
members, and for the past year has been self-supporting, raising $2000. 
We have also raised $6000 for a church edifice, which will cost not less 
than $14,000; we can raise $4000 more; and if I can raise $4000 more 
here, the work is done. My people are liberal, but there are impossibili- 
ties which they can not accomplish. At Boulder City, we have a church 
of fourteen members, and they have been calling for a minister. "We 
want a minister for Denver, another for Empire City, and another for 
Canon City. We have a poiDulation at Denver City of five thousand; at 
Central City, within a circle of four miles, a population of from seven to 
ten thousand; at Boulder City, neaiiy ten thousand; at Caiion City, 
where there are large oil fields, nearly fifteen thousand, and those places 
must be manned. 

One single word in regard to ways and means. One of the purposes 
of this report is to secure men. Ilsrow, there are many here who can 
leave their old fields and go into new territory. We don't want sticks; 
we want men of ability, devotion, and energy ; and if there are any such 
men here to-day who covet the opportunity of laying the foundations of 
a church and preaching Christ in a new country, let them make applica- 
tion to Dr. Badger, who sits here before me, and whose crown of glory 
can always be seen from every part of the house. [Applause.] That is 
a practical suggestion. 

Another thing. We want money. And let me tell you that this 
church building enterprise is the most desirable on your hst. Brother 
Langworthy said to me, " I fear our cause is not to have any place in 
the plans and afiections of our churches." Let me say to you, brethren, 
that you must pay just as freely to him as to any other cause. Give us 
a church, and we can support it ourselves. You may keep a home mis- 
sionary in the field for five years, at an expense of $300 a year, and a 
church will have to be built at the end of that time; but give to that 
field one or two thousand dollars, and a church building is put up at 
once, and the church becomes self-supporting at once. That is the more 
economical way. 

Another thing. If you are going to help us at the West, you must 
preach upon our church polity. Our Congregational brethren do not 
understand this, and when they go to the West, they go into Methodist 
churches and Presbyterian churches, and say that they wouldn't turn 
their hand over for the difference between them. Now, if our principles 
are true, if we are standing on the right ground, if we have found the 
" old paths," let us stay therein. [Applause.] 

One word more and I am done. The questijon has often been asked 
me, " How did you happen to start off to that distant region? " I will 
tell you. Two years ago, I heard a voice crying, " Whom shall we send, 
or who will go for us? " and after waiting and hearing no response, I 



814 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

said, " Here am I; send me." I am not a pioneer from choice, but from 
necessity. Are there any other men who feel the same necessity to 
preach the gospel where Christ has not been named? 

Eev. Mr. Gaylord, of Nebraska. You have been hearing reports of 
great interest, and claims are pressing upon you with great weight from 
the vast territories that lie stretching off toward the setting sun; terri- 
tories that are filling up, as I can bear testimony, from the vast stream of 
poj)ulation that is flowing annually through the region where I live, with 
a rapidity that challenges the earnest attention of every friend of his 
country, and of the cause of Christ. I came to speak to you of a ter- 
ritory that lies in the very heart of this great country, between the 
States and these mountain territories, that are opening up with so much 
promise, and with such demands upon your attention and your interest. 
The field which I represent is the great valley of the Missouri, lying 
north of the State of Kansas and the State of Missouri. The Missouri 
river runs directly through the great heart of my home missionary dis- 
trict; and that is a very important section of the country, not for its 
mining resources, but because it is the section from which the mining 
population are to draw those supplies that sustain physical life, while 
they are engaged in unearthing the hidden riches of the mountains; and, 
as my brethren from Iowa and from Colorado have said, so I can reit- 
erate. Our great want is men; men to occupy the opening fields; men 
to man our towns and villages ; and men to go forth with hearts warm 
with the love of Christ, and of souls, to take our scattered population 
and lead them to Christ, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of 
the world. On the whole line of the Missouri river, for two hundred 
miles in our territory, we have but one stationed minister at this present 
time. I occupy the position of agent of the American Home Missionary 
Society. "We have at Nebraska city the only Congregational minister 
on the whole line 'of the Missouri river for two hundred miles on our 
eastern border; and it is a region of country rich in its natural resom^es. 
It is fertile, it is productive, and is to be filled with an active and enter- 
prising population. After I left home, I received a letter from Sioux 
City, in reference to Yankton, the capital of Dacotah Territory, asking 
for a Congregational minister, and saying that the Congregational ele- 
ment was in advance of all others, and stronger, probably, than all others 
put together; yet the only minister they have is an Episcopalian, with 
whom the peoijle are not in sympathy. A few weeks ago, I was way up 
the valley, to Platte, eighty miles west of Omaha, on the line of the 
great tide of emigration that pours over, year after year, to the Pacific 
coast and the mountain territories; and there, at the central point of 
the United States, is an opening for a Congregational minister, who 
might be the center of influence in the place if he were there to-day ; and 
within twelve months, the cars of the Union Pacific Eailroad will be 
running from Omaha city to that place. In all probability, it is destined 
to be the future capital of the territory or State of Nebraska, — the cen- 
ter of a wide section of country, that will be filled with an enterprising 
population. 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 315 

Thus the fields are opening on every hand. We need men who are 
willing to endure hardness, who are not looking for fat places, such as 
brother Guernsey described, but who are wilhng to go out on the frontier, 
who are willing to drive the first stake, and to preach if need be, in a 
log cabin, or a private room, or on the open prairie, and are willing to 
sleep there, upon a bed of down or a bed of husks, or if necessary, upon 
the grass itself. 

Dea. Bryant, of Delaware. Mr. Moderator^ — This subject of Evan- 
gelization in the South is one in which I am deeply and personally 
interested; for, if there is any part of our land that needs Evangelizing 
or Unionizing, it is that part which I represent. I come before you as 
the representative of the only Congregational church in the State of Del- 
aware. We are the pioneers in the Emigration Enterprise, inaugurated 
two years ago by the Delaware Improvement Association, and which is 
rapidly filling the State with ^N'orthern men of energy and enterprise. 
We have heard, sir, much of the West and its pressing wants, and there 
seems to be enough there to engage all our attention; we have heard, too, 
from the South, — and a vast field looms up before us in that direction, 
which must be occupied; and I can not allow this discussion to close with- 
out calling your attention to my own State, which has so long -been imder 
the blighting influences of slavery, that not only have the people become 
IGNORANT, destitute, and many of them rebellious, — but the very soil 
seems cursed and almost refuses to yield to the demands of the husbandman. 
Delaware is in great need of and is worthy to receive from the jSTorth that 
" Gospel which makes men free ; " — the Diamond State is ripe for jSTew 
England institutions. We want the church, with its sacred ordinances, 
its means of grace and religious instruction; — we want the School- 
house, too, as well, — so that the light of intellectual as well as moral and 
religious truth may penetrate the darkness, if it can not disiDcl it, which 
envelopes many a noble mind; and I ask you to-day, that in considering 
the wants of other sections of our land, you will remember that if Dela- 
ware has not been as faithful in this great crisis as she ought to have 
been, it is only because she has been deprived of the religious j^rivileges 
and blessings that you enjoy. In 1860, the population of Delaware was 
112,216, of which 90,589 were whites, and 21,627 were blacks; there were 
at that time, 1798 slaves in the State; but at this time, there are not 
probably 100 slaves, the majority having either been drafted or enlisted 
in the service of the country, and the balance have run away, so that the 
State is practically free. Of the whole population of the State, it is safe 
to say that three-fourths are without any religious instruction. We have 
no Sabbath school organization in the State and but few Sabbath schools 
outside of Wilmington. Over 500 families from the North have moved 
into the State within three years; — and still they come, — and by the 
first of iSTovember next, enough will be there to change the political char- 
acter of the State ; — and our copperhead legislature evidently see the 
" handwriting on the wall," which foretells a grand funeral celebration 
(if I may use the expression), on next election day over the last vestige 
of copperheadism and slavery in om- State. 



316 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

"Wc are establishing a ^N'ortliern rural village in the center of the State, 
and enough are already there to feel the want of religious and educa- 
tional privileges to which we were accustomed in our JSTorthern homes. 
IsTew England, 'New York State, and Pennsylvania, are contributing 
principally to our settlement. Although strongly urged to organize a 
Presbyterian church, with the promise of assistance, yet we clung to 
the Congregational form as the one best suited to the wants of that 
growing community; — and, as there will be a demand in that section 
for other Congregational churches, we l^el that most important results, 
in the extension of the Redeemer's Kingdom in that South-eastern portion 
of our country, rests upon the success of this enterprise in Canterbury. 
Our church consists of twenty members; we should have a congrega- 
tion of two hundred, if we had a house of worship ; but we are obliged 
to hold rehgious services in our houses, — our means being too limited to 
build and furnish a church. We have no pastor at j)resent, but have one 
in view; — and we think, — with a little helj) now, — our church will 
soon be self-sustaining. We want to build a neat village church that will 
seat three hundred persons, and the estimated cost of which complete 
will be ^3500. We have strained every nerve in the raising of ^800 in 
money and materials among ourselves ; the Congregational Union gives 
us $500, and a friend $200, with which to pay last bills ; so that we have 
$800 to begin with, — but we must raise $2000 more before we can get 
the $700 which will complete our building; — and we are obliged to 
appeal to our isTorthern brethren to lend us a helping hand. We come 
to you in His name who said "Ask, and ye shall receive," believing that 
you will cheerfully assist us in planting in Delaware a branch of the 
true vine, — and promising on our part to be such faithful workers that, 
with the blessing of God, that now barren waste will, in due time, become 
a fruitful vineyard of the Lord. Oh, that I could ring such an appeal in 
the ears of my Northern brethren, as would move their pure minds and 
open their full pockets. A gentleman who has just given me $50, says he 
will be one of twenty to give $100 each, to make the amount required. 
Can we not raise this amount on the spot, and let it be a part of the 
$750,000 which we are going to raise? If obliged to wait until that 
amount is raised, we shall starve and die; but give me $2000 now, and I 
will have the first Congregational church in Delaware, ready to dedicate 
by the first of next N'ovember. 

We have put our " shoulders to the wheel; " Christian brethren of the 
North, will you not give us a lift? 

Eev. James Massie, d. d., ll. d., of England. Mr. Moderator, — I 
have listened with deep and intense interest to the statements concern- 
ing the West and the South; and I would not have obtruded myself on 
this iDlatform had I not felt that I had a message to you and a word of 
encouragement. I will not dilate upon any of the points, but endeavor 
as briefly as possible to express what is in my heart. 

It has been my privilege to spend the last twelve months mostly on 
behalf of your freedmen, in the service of the Ereedmen's Association, 
formed at London. I have traveled between three and four thousand 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 317 

miles, and attended more than -thirty meetings, in comiDany with an 
American from Cincinnati, — Mr. Le^d Coffin, identified with the mider- 
gronnd raih'oad. [Applause.] I have thus been brought into connection 
with the Friends, or Quakers, as they are better known, throughout Eng- 
land, Ireland, and Scotland, and have found their sympathies ready to be 
awakened concerning your country, and especially the benevolent portion 
of your work in the South, if not also in the West. We have worked 
together in connection with the Freedmen's Association of London on 
this principle. The London committee, consisting of members of the 
Societj^ of Friends, clergymen, and members of the established church, 
ministers and members of non-conformist churches, welcomes and en- 
treats the assistance of all classes of society in its object, and only 
seeks to give such aid, physical and educational, and to apply such moral 
and religious culture as shall, under the divine blessing, enable the once 
down-trodden and degraded slave to act for himself, and to give evidence 
of his capacity for the blessings of freedom. That society has sent ofi" 
to America more than £4000, — and sent it so that the friends in America 
might have the benefit of the exchange. [Applause.] It has been iden- 
tified with a congenial institution formed among the Society of Friends, 
and the two together, with the society of the Midland counties, working 
at Birmingham, have sent ^625,000 in money and goods, to your Freed- 
men's Associations. [Applause.] I believe that, since I left, as much as 
£5000 more have been prepared to be sent, if not already sent. 

I should like to read the principle on which these friends operate in 
your behalf. It is well that you should know what is felt concerning you 
in the country from which I come. Speaking of your efforts in the Sani- 
tary Commission, in the Christian Commission, and in the Freedmen's 
Associations throughout the country, our friends say : — 

" With all these efforts, the work is so vast, that it altogether overtaxes 
their strength. This is the time of America's need. She helped 
us IN OUR need. Shall we not help her in hers? We speak 
not, of course, of her need in war. With that we can have nothing to do. 
And it is with no feelings of political partisanship that we now address 
you. But the hundreds of thousands of freedmen in her midst, who 
need food, clothing, nurture, and Christian instruction, and who are the 
helpless victims of circumstances over which they have no control, are 
as really a burden cast upon her, and claiming and deserving our sym- 
pathy and help, aS the starving thousands of Ireland and of Lancashire 
were a burden cast upon us, and deserving (and obtaining too, be it 
remembered, to a vast extent), American sympathy and help." 

Then follow some paragraphs, which I pass over, proving that there 
was received from America, more than £200,000, in money and goods, to 
help Ireland and Lancashire, during the distress of those two jDeriods. 
And now they say: — 

" In issuing a revised edition of this appeal, after the fall of Eichmond, 
the surrender of Lee, and the awful assassination of President Lincoln, 
— at the eve, we had trusted, of the return of peace to the United 
States, — we have felt that, so far from damping our zeal, these events 



318 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

are in themselves a call for redoubled efforts to meet the increasing scale 
which the work is likely to assume. 

"May England answer to the call! May her ministers and statesmen 
esiDecially feel that the expression in Parliament of national sympathy 
with America in her struggle to remove such an evil as slavery, is no less 
a duty now, than was the expression of national gratitude to America in 
1847 for her generosity to Ireland. It may be that various opinions have 
been held in England with reference to the war; but with the return of 
peace, every fair and generous critic will feel that the condemnation of 
acts which seemed to him blameworthy, constitutes in itself an obliga- 
tion to recognize those which he can not deny to be worthy of praise." 

I feel I ought not to trespass upon your time after reading these 
extracts; but I wish to say, that I think it is in your power, as a Council, 
to secure the co-operation of the Congregational Union of England and 
"Wales in your missionary enterprises among the colored people of this 
country. I know not what your response will be to the delegation who 
have come from that Union, — a Union of which I am a member, and in 
which I had the honor to propose the appointment of the delegation, 
and the nomination of one of the best of our men, who is amongst you; 
but that Congregational Union will regard the missionary organization 
sanctioned by this Council as one in which they can have confidence. I 
believe the Society of Eriends will aid you in your efforts without refer- 
ence to sectarianism in any sense. 

Kev. Mr. Allen, of Massachusetts. Mr. Moderator^ — It is with ex- 
ti'eme reluctance that I rise in this assembly at this time ; or it would be, 
did I not feel it to be an imperative duty. I regret the occasion, but will- 
ingly assume the responsibility, under the circumstances. 

The two papers which are before this body seem to be united in the 
debate. They are the joint-stock property of this Council, and I regard 
myself as a stockholder in it, and therefore have a right to speak. I have 
rejoiced in all the testimony which has been given, and in all the sympa- 
thy which has been expressed, in relation to the two great objects which 
have occupied the attention of this house. However much others may 
feel on this subject, I can say that no one feels more than I do; and I 
have been exceedingly unwilling to interrupt the strain of feeling that 
has been so often expressed and listened to with such constant interest 
by this assembly. But, sir, there is one clause that has been introduced 
into the report of Dr. Button, to which I object, and against which I 
protest, and that is, that we declare our consent to, and belief in, the doc- 
trines of our fathers, as they have declared them, in respect of what may 
be called the substance of doctrine. There is one great doctrine which 
is regarded as fundamentally true by a considerable portion of this body, 
as a cardinal doctrine, which is regarded by another portion of this assem- 
bly, and that a large one, as cardinally and fundamentally false, — and that 
is the doctrine of " original sin," as held by our fathers, and by those 
who were in agreement with them in the country from which they came. 
I say, sir, if you send forth that document, with that declaration in it, 
you send forth a declaration to all oiu' Congregational chm-ches, that is 



EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 319 

not true ; and you send forth to all other denommations of Christians, 
you declare before the Avhole world, and you make it the record of his- 
tory, to be read in all coming time, — a sentiment which carries a lie in its 
right hand. This is a subject that is greatly misunderstood by many in 
this body. Though I would not assume anything for myself, I will say 
here that I have examined that subject historically with great care and 
for years; that I have read much, thought much, and given it my most 
deliberate and earnest and conscientious consideration; and I say, sir, 
that the public mind in om- churches and among our ministers has been 
obfuscated upon this subject; that that state of things, sir, has been 
brought about by those high in position as teachers of theology; and that, 
to accomphsh this end, they have interpolated the catechism itself, — they 
have changed its language, and given it a form and expression that do 
not belong to it." I will say, sir, that on '*his subject, I feel prepared to 
meet the question anj^where and everywhere, and that I intend to meet it 
on another platform, broader than this, and to show historically that that 
declaration of sentiment is false. And, sir, did not the brother who intro- 
duced it know that he has been contending on that very subject,— con- 
tending earnestly, as for "the faith once delivered to the saints," — 
contending that the Congregational churches in the land were divided 
extensively on this subject, — that it was a controverted point? "Who does 
not know it? 

Rev. Dr. Bouton, of New Hampshire, called for the order of 
the day, to wit : the question on the adoption of the report on 
Church Building, and, the vote having been taken, it was de- 
clared adopted. 

A motion was then made that the recommendations of the 
report on " Evangelization in the South and West" be taken 
up separately ; which was lost. 

Rev. Dr. Dutton, of Connecticut, moved that the report be 
divided into three parts, and that the vote be taken first on the 
portion preceding the recommendation in regard to the employ- 
ment of Christian laymen ; next on that recommendation ; and 
then on the balance of the report. This motion prevailed, and 
the first part of the report was adopted. 

Rev. Dr. Barstow, of New Hampshire, moved that the sen- 
tence in regard to " rail-splitters and tailors " be stricken out 
of the next recommendation ; and the motion was carried. 

Rev. Dr. Patton moved to strike out the word " license," and 
substitute the word " approve," which was carried. 



Hon. Mr. Child, of Massachusetts. I wish to suggest another amend- 
ment. This is a very important matter, I apprehend. Indeed, it is upon 
a subject very delicate; and I should prefer that, instead of seemmg to 



320 EVANGELIZATION CHURCH BUILDING. 

decide, as the recommendation now stands, on the propriety of approv- 
ing and ordaining laymen, it should be so altered as to refer that question, 
— the question of its expediency, — to the local associations. 

Eev. Dr. Button, of Connecticut. That is so, sir. 

Hon. Mr. Child. I beg pardon of the chairman of the committee. 
The report reads, — " They also recommend to the proper ecclesiastical 
bodies that they license for the needed work, and if necessary ordain, with 
such conditions as they deem best. Christian laymen," &c. The amend- 
ment I would suggest is, " that this Council commend to these local asso- 
ciations the consideration of the expediency of licensing, or approving 
laymen within their boimds." I fear, sir, that if it goes out from this 
Council that that class of men — 

Eev. Dr. Holbrook, of iN'ew York. I rise to a question of order. 
Is this question debatable? IMt is I have something to say on the other 
side. 

The Moderator. (Mr. Hammond.) Debate is not in order. The 
question must be taken on amendments without debate. 

Hon. Mr. Child. I move to amend by striking out the words, " They 
also recommend to the proper ecclesiastical bodies that they license for 
the needed work, and if necessary ordain," &c., and inserting in their 
stead, " They also commend to the proper ecclesiastical bodies the consid- 
eration of the exj)ediency of approving, and, if necessary, ordaining with 
such conditions as they may deem best, laymen residing within their 
respective limits." 

The amendment was adopted. 

Mr. Child moved further to amend by striking out the words, 
" and the Council do earnestly invite such Christian laymen to 
hear the voice of the Lord and enter into this work." The 
motion was lost. 

The recommendation was then adopted. 

Eev. Mr. Jenney, of IlHnois. I move to amend the passage which 
speaks of the use of " all other honorable means," by erasing the word 
'" honorable," — as if there were any other than honorable means that we 
could use ! 

Eev. Dr. Duttqn, of Connecticut. There are other means, and Con- 
gregationalists sometimes use them. 

Eev. Mr. Jenney, of IlHnois. If that be so, let us not pubhsh it to 
the world. 

The motion to amend was lost, and the remainder of the 
report adopted. 

Eev. Dr. Bouton, of New Hampshire, moved the adoption of 
the report as a whole, and as amended, and it was adopted. 

A recess of five minutes was then taken and spent in devo- 
tional exercises. 



RESPONSE TO FOREIGX DELEGATIONS. 321 

RESPONSE TO FOREIGN DELEGATIONS. 

Kev. Dr. Bacon, preliminary to reading the report of the commit- 
tee appointed to prepare a response to Foreign Delegations, said: I am 
bound to say that to one of the members of the committee this report 
has not been read since its preparation. It has been mianimously ac- 
cepted and approved by the others. The mover of the resolution to 
prepare such a response (Eev. Henry Ward Beecher), at my request put 
into my hands an outline of what he conceived could best be said. If 
the report, as I have drawn it up in conformity with that outline is found 
too long, let him bear part of the blame. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon, then read the following 

EEPOET. 

This Council has been honored with the presence of brethren who have 
brought us friendly and fraternal greetings from various Christian bodies 
in foreign countries. Our neighbors beyond the St. Lawrence have sent 
to us the Rev. Edward Ebbs, the Rev. Henry Wilkes, D. D., the Rev. 
John Wood, the Rev. E. J. Sherrill, the Rev. A. Duff, the 'Rev. D. C. 
Erench, and Theodore Lyman, Esq., who appear as delegates from the 
Congregational Union, of Canada. Brother W. H. Daniels comes to us 
from the Congregational Union of Nova Scotia and Kew Brunswick. 
Erom the Evangelical churches of Erance, a youthful brother, bearing 
a beloved and honored name, the Rev. Theodore Monod, delegated by 
the Union of those churches, has stood among us, and from his eloquent 
lips we have received a new assurance that the Evangelical Protestant- 
ism which in that great country was so long persecuted and oppressed, 
is yet to be a power in the conquest of the world for Christ. The Con- 
gregational Churches of Wales, worshiping God in their own ancient 
language, and inheriting that primitive British Christianity which is 
older than the name of England, have been represented by the Rev. John 
Thomas, C. R. Jones, Esq., and J. Griffith, Esq., deputed for that service 
by the Glanmorganshire Association. Erom the Eatherland of our own 
Pilgrim Fathers, two distinguished ministers, the Rev. Robert Yaughan, 
D. D., and the Rev. Alexander Raleigh, D. D., commissioned by the Con- 
gregational Union of England and Wales, the Rev. S. R. Asbury, com- 
missioned by the ISTorth Staffordshire Congregational Union, and another, 
who needs no letters of recommendation to us, the Rev. Dr. James W. 
Massie, have come to renew and confirm the alliance which ought ever 
to be firm and intimate between the Congregationalism of England and 
the Congregationalism of America. The presence of these brethren in 
our National Council gives us the opportunity of testifying the Christian 
fellowship of our churches with all in every land who are sincerely seek- 
ing to advance the kingdom of Christ. 

To our brethren in the neighboring British Provinces, we need only 
respond with grateful recognition of their interest in us and in the work 
committed to us. Their pecuhar work is in some degree co-ordinate with 
2i 



322 RESPONSE TO FOREIGN DELEGATIONS. 

ours. It is for them, though under many discouragements, to maintain 
and propagate in their country those religious ideas and organizing 
forces which our fathers brought with them to Kew England, and which, 
whenever they have had free course upon this continent, have made the 
wilderness rejoice and blossom as the rose. May God give them enlarge- 
ment and prosperity! 

The salutations of the French Evangelical churches remind us of the 
many points of contact between the history of their country and the his- 
tory of our own. Here in Boston there was once a congregation of 
French Protestants exiled for their religion. The Huguenot migration 
to IN'ew England and to all the English colonies was one of the streams 
that made up by their confluence the American race and nationality. 
Names that were once French, and that were brought hither by fugitives 
from persecution almost two hundred years ago, are borne by thousands 
of our people, and some of them are illustrious in our history. The rela- 
tion of France to the achievement of our national independence can 
never be forgotten by the American people while the memory of Lafay- 
ette is blended with the memory of Washington. From the earliest 
stages of the French Eevolution to the present hour, our peoi^le, more 
intently perhaps than any other, have watched the vicissitudes of liberty, 
and especially of religious liberty, in that country. Our churches have 
watched with prayer and with praise to God the rekindled life in the 
dying remnants of French Protestantism, and gladly have they contrib- 
uted something of substantial aid to a movement so full of hope for 
Europe and for the world. Yet when the terrible storm of adversity 
burst upon our country four years ago, and we looked to all parts of the 
world for sympathy from the wise and the good, we little expected that 
from a Protestant Frenchman there would come, to invigorate our confi- 
dence in God, and to reassure the consciousness of our relation to his 
work who is making all things new, such a tribute to the grandeur of our 
cause, and such an appeal to the Christian world in our behalf, as came 
from the illustrious Count Ajenor de Gasparin. We were in a position 
which made us know with lively sensibility what was said of us and what 
was thought of us in every country of the civilized world. It gave us no 
discouragement to find that everywhere the enemies of liberty and the 
upholders of mihtary and priestly despotisms were in full sympathy with 
our enemies. But to know, as we knew from the beginning, that the 
friends of liberty and progress throughout Europe, and especially in 
France, were our friends, and that they recognized the identity of our 
cause with theirs, gave added courage to all our loyal people. To know, 
as we know, that the religious aspects of the conflict, and its relations to 
the work and kingdom of Christ, were understood and appreciated by the 
revived Protestant churches of France, and that their prayers were 
unceasingly oflfered for us, was to all our churches a fresh inspiration of 
faith and hope. From our experience of what their words of cheer have 
been to us in our darkest hours, we would learn, for our own guidance in 
all future time, how much good the Christian people of one nation may do 
to the Christian people of another nation, in times of peril and of trial, 



RESPONSE TO FOREIGN DELEGATIONS. 323 

by speaking to them and speaking for them, words of Christian sympa- 
thy and confidence^ in the free, clear tone of Christian manliness. 

Our brethren in the principality of Wales assure us, by their delegates, 
that, in the great struggle of our nation for civil and religious liberty, 
their sympathy with us has been constant and outspoken, and that their 
prayers have been offered to God for us in the time of our calamity. It 
would hardly have been strange, if, in the seclusion of their ancestral 
mountains, they had felt that a conflict on the other side of the globe, 
though all the world beside should be shaken with the Titanic struggle, 
was no concern of theirs, and that the military neutrality proclaimed by 
the government of their country required them to suppress their moral 
and religious sympathies. But the mountains are ever the home of free 
and brave hearts; and the ocean over which adventurous Madoc is 
reputed to have sailed seven hundred years ago, has been crossed in more 
modern times by thousands of Welshmen who have retained in their 
homes among us their own language and their communications with their 
kindred in the land of their fathers. The Welsh settlements in our country 
are settlements of Congregational Calvinists, and everywhere they have 
been thoroughly loyal to their country and to liberty. To them in part 
we owe it that the Congregational churches in Wales have so well under- 
stood the merits of our cause, and have so frankly given to us, in our 
conflict with opioressionand with treason, the Cambrian steadfastness of 
their sympathy, and the Cambrian fervor of their prayers. 

In England, too, our country and our churches have had, from the 
beginning of the great agony, firm and enlightened friends. Perhaps it 
was a fondness on our part, but, in that love for old England which so 
many ages of separation had not extinguished, we have cherished the 
belief that the sovereign lady, whose womanly and queenly virtues have 
so adorned the throne of her ancestors, has not forgotten with what 
enthusiasm of hospitality her royal son was received by the American 
people, and has freely given the homage of her personal symjDathy and 
regard to the grandeur of the sacrifices which God has required of us 
for our country and for the welfare of mankind. In the highest rank of 
the British aristocracy, one at least was found (alas that we can not join 
the name of Shaftesbury with the name of Argyle!) who at the first 
IDcrceived and openly declared the necessity that was upon us, as patriots 
and as men, to defend in arms and at all hazards, not our national inher- 
itance only, but our national life. Among the foremost statesmen in the 
British House of Commons, such men as Bright and the lamented Cob- 
den, — whose names, like that of Hampden in his day, are greater than 
titles of nobility, — among philosophic thinkers in the sphere of political 
science, such men as Stuart Mill, and Goldwin Smith, have been the 
champions of our cause before their countrymen. But notwithstanding 
all this, the prevalent opinion of England and of Scotland has been noto- 
riously adverse to our cause. Though we had able defenders among those 
who control the journalism of Great Britain, the most powerful of the 
organs that sway and express the public opinion of Great Britain, the 
most ponderous reviews, the most popular magazines, the most widely 



324 RESPONSE TO FOREIGN DELEGATIONS. 

circulating and authoritative newspapers, whig and tory, conservative 
and radical, high-church and infidel, if they could agree in nothing else, 
were well agreed in their hostility to us and in their sympathy with the 
rebellion. 

This was not what we expected. It struck the hearts of thousands of 
our countrymen with a pang like that which any man might feel when 
some friend whom he loved and trusted has suddenly become his enemy. 
Yet this is what we might have expected if we had adequately consid- 
ered the infirmities of human nature and the forces by which national 
antipathies are generated and determined. Our kindred in Great Britain 
had seen with mingled pride and apprehension the portentous growth of 
the United States, and had been sometimes disgusted with that boastful 
and vain-glorious habit which has hitherto entered so largely into our 
national character. We can not wonder that the British nation had some 
feeling of relief and satisfaction at the apparent downfall of a power that 
had seemed likely to rival " the mistress of the seas," and that might have 
attempted some day to wrest the trident from her grasp. The political 
institutions of the United States, though in some sense an outgrowth of 
ancient English law and liberty, had no place for the theoretical mon- 
archy and the actual and powerful aristocracy of the British constitution. 
We can not wonder that thousands of loyal subjects in Great Britain 
accepted with a cheerful feeling the apparent ruin of our federal democ- 
racy, and made haste to infer with joy the impossibility of any political 
welfare without a powerful aristocracy. In the United States there was 
no established Church; but all forms of worship were ahke protected by 
the law, and alike dependent upon the voluntary offerings of the people. 
We can not wonder that in England, where the Established Church is 
ubiquitous in its presence and its power, and where all church parties. 
High Church, Low Church, and Broad Church, and all theologies in the 
church from ultra Calvinism to ultra Eationalism, agree in venerating 
the sanctity of tithes and in abhorring the impiety of a nation without a 
church by law established, there was a religious feeling, widely difiused, 
which devotedly interpreted our national calamity as a revelation from 
heaven of God's wrath against our national impiety. Nor was this all. 
The island of Great Britain is one great hive of manufacturing industry ; 
and British commerce has been for many ages the cynosure of British 
statesmanship. But on the other hand the people of the United States 
have shown a determination to enrich their own country by a large 
development of manufacturing industry ; and the commerce of the United 
States had seemed likely to rival the world-wide sweep, and to surpass 
the daring enterprise of British commerce. We can not wonder that the 
nation which the first isTapoleon, in the insolence of a robber, thought 
to stigmatize by calhng it " a nation of shopkeepers," and in which the 
great manufacturers and traders already share with the ancient aristoc- 
racy of land-owners the actual sovereignty of the empire, was moved 
with something hke a national joy at what seemed to be the final paral- 
ysis and ruin of a great commercial rival. Yet there was one class in 
the population of Great Britain which surprised the world by standing 
firmly and bravely for ug. 



RESPONSE TO FOREIGN DELEGATIONS. 825 

The operatives in the manufacturing districts were the first to sufter 
from the effects of the American conflict. But as if by some instinct 
divinely given, they felt and knew that the conflict was a conflict for the 
rights of labor and the liberty of all mankind; and from first to last they 
steadfastly resisted all attempts to bring them through their sufferings 
into any sort of fellowship with the impious power that was struggling 
to found an empire on the principle that the proprietors of land and cap- 
ital ought also to be the proprietors of their less fortunate fellow-men. Let 
us give due honor to the humble operatives in the mills and forges and 
countless workshops of Great Britain, whom God enabled to stand firm 
in the day of their calamity and of ours. 

From our brethren of the Congregational churches in England, we 
expected at the first an unequivocal and constant declaration of sympa- 
thy with the American people. Were they not our brethren, inheritors 
with us of the faith and order for which the martyrs of Congregational- 
ism suffered under Queen Elizabeth? Did they not glory in our Pilgrim 
Father^? Was not our history their boast? Was not our religious pros- 
perity, our civil liberty, our marvelous progress among the nations, the 
most powerful of arguments for their principles? Were they ashamed 
of Milton and of Cromwell, or of the position which Britain -held among 
the nations when a Congregationalist Lord Protector reigned in the 
place of the peijured and persecuting Stuarts? Was not our cause "the 
good old cause " of the Puritan against the Cavalier, acknowledged and 
proclaimed as such by our enemies? Had they not in the freedom and 
fidelity of Congregational fellowship, rebuked us at sundry times and 
in divers manners, publicly and privately, through the press and by 
official communications, for the lukewarmness of our zeal and the imper- 
fection of our testimony against the wickedness of slavery? And when 
at last the American people, roused in part by such remonstrances as 
theirs, and moved by the pressure of a purely religious feeling through- 
out the free States, — a feeling to which the Congregationalism of New 
England and the i^orth contributed more than its full share of glow and 
impulse, — rendered, in the unequivocal form of a national election, its 
purpose to arrest the extension of slavery and to resist the insolent 
demands of the slave-holding and slave-trading interest, though at the 
hazard of war and national dissolution, — was it not to be expected that 
the Congregational churches and ministers of England, with one voice of 
no uncertain sound, would testify for the righteousness of our cause, 
not only as the cause of order against anarchy, and of constitutional gov- 
ernment by votes against government by violence and arbitrary power, — 
not only as the cause of rehgious liberty and the universal diffusion of 
knowledge against a system which made the Bible an incendiary book and 
the teaching of the alphabet a crime, — but also as the cause of personal 
freedom, and of every man's right to his own hmbs and faculties, against 
the hideous atrocity of subjecting a race to perpetual servitude, hopeless 
and unrewarded, and the impiety of perverting the Christian rehgion into 
a di\ine warrant for that atrocity. 

Our brethren who bring to us in this assembly the congratulations of 



826 RESPONSE TO FOREIGN DELEGATIONS. 

the English Congregational Union must not be permitted to return under 
any impression that we have not felt deeply and sorrowfully, through 
these four years of national agony, the actual position of English Con- 
gregationaUsts. We know that among them there have been some, 
whom it might be invidious to name, because we could not name them all, 
who have been from first to last, our most constant, devoted, and faithful 
defenders. "We frankly and gratefully acknowledge, on the testimony of 
the honored delegates here present, that the majority of the Congrega- 
tional ministers and churches in England have sympathized with us, and 
have prayed for our dehverance from our enemies, and our victory over 
the Antichrist that rose up to destroy us. But faithfulness to them and 
to Christ forbids us to forget that the dominant influences in the Congre- 
gational Union, and the ostensible organs of Congregational opinion in 
England, were against us, or that honored brethren who went from us to 
them, for the purpose of explaining our position, and asking for their 
sympathy and their prayers, were refused a hearing. Yet while we 
remember this, we -remember it not as retaining any unkind remembrance 
of an injury to us. We accept the presence of the beloved and honored 
delegates who have stood in our assembly as a proof that they now 
understand us, and that the ancient fraternity and unity between them 
and us shall be perpetual, and as a hopeful omen that between these kin- 
dred nations there shall be peace, ever growing more intimate and indis- 
soluble by co-operation in all works of beneficence to mankind and of 
glory to God. 

Leonard Bacon, 1 

Henry Ward Beecher, 

J. M. Sturtevant, y Committee, 

Kurus Anderson, I 

J. B. Waeicer, J 

Kev. Mr. Quint. I make the motion to accept and to adopt this report. 
I feel easier and breathe easier than I have since last week. I have had 
the sound of those cheers weighing down upon me ever since the recep- 
tion of our foreign brethren, and I am glad now to hear this manly and 
clear utterance. 

We have felt the position of England toward us. I have felt it my- 
self particularly, because I have seen its efiect. England is now, I sup- 
pose, converted and on our side; for England is like Providence, " always 
on the side of the strongest battahons," always ready to follow the pow- 
erful," and always ready to crush the weak [A few hisses] ; robbing in 
India, plundering in Ireland, and in connection with our affairs worse 
than that. 

Some of you think I feel strongly upon this. I am willing you should; 
and when you have earned the right to feel as strongly as I do, and 
earned it in the same way, by a three years' devotion of your life in the 
service of your country, and have had England to fight all the way, then 
you may hiss if you please; you will then be entitled to the respect which 
I am, and which I claim. [Applause.] 



RESPONSE TO FOKEIGN DELEGATIONS. 327 

When those cheers were given the other day I could not help thinking 
that, notwithstanding they were intended for the adroit eloquence of the 
venerable brethren whom we welcomed, they could not vindicate by that 
eloquence the facts which have been brought out in this report. 

When I went to settle in the place where I live I found that my peo- 
ple's property, being upon the sea, had been given to the flames by Brit- 
ish pirates, vessels of war, built in England, manned, and supplied 
there. But when I was in the service of my country and saw my com- 
rades dead, when I saw friends from Wisconsin, Indiana, and 'New York 
dead side by side, I knew that they fell by British bullets, from British 
muskets, loaded with British powder, fired by men wearing British 
shoes and British clothing, and backed up by British sympathy. [Ap- 
plause.] 

But now they are converted. Yes ! Their attention was arrested at 
Atlanta. Their convictions were awakened at Savannah. They were 
very strongly convicted of sin at Petersburg, and tolerably converted at 
Eichmond; and I hope they will not fall from grace by the sin there was 
in the skirts of Jeff Davis. [Laughter and applause.] 

When I heard those cheers the other day, and I say it with the utmost 
kindness of feeling toward these brethren, I wanted to cheer them, too, 
but I thought I heard in the sound of those cheers [Keferring to Dr. 
Vaughan's speech before the Council, on Thursday the 15th], the whiz of 
the bullet, the crash of the bursting shell, the groans of the wounded, 
the weeping of the orphan, and the wailing of widows at home, made so 
by British sympathy. Brethren, I could not cheer! 

But what did our own brethren over there do ? How" did they feel ? 
How did they talk? I quote extracts from their leading periodical 
[British Quarterly:] 

" We have no faith in the doctrine, that the continuance of the colossal 
Union which has grown up over that vast territory is desirable. We feel 
convinced that some division, and perhaps more than one, would be favor- 
able in many ways to the progress of international harmony, and of 
Christian civilization. 

" The most self-governed people in the world have become the most 
ill-governed. The world, it seems, was to see how a colossal republic 
may become a colossal ^N'apoleon ; how the former may become as am- 
bitious as the latter, and fully as heedless in regard to the costs of its 
ambition. 

" The manhood of seven millions of people reduced to that. If this be 
anything like true, has the world ever witnessed a carnage so deliberate 
and so horribl/i ? And all for what ? That slavery may be annihilated, 
is the answer of some well-meaning but mistaken men. For the perpet- 
uating of empire is the answer from the majority of the Northern people. 
Disguise it as we may, it is that America may be the seat of a Kepublic 
as large as Europe, and that it may be strong enough to issue maritime 
law to Europe. 

" The issue is narrowed to a single point. Independence is the one 
word, comprehending everything at the South. Submission is the one 



328 RESPONSE TO FOREIGN DELEGATIONS. 

word comprehending everything at the North, — a submission, however, 
which means the future rule of a vanquished minority by a conquerino- 
majority. Wise men must be as alien from the spirit of the invaders in 
the struggle as from the slave element of the invaded." 

When I heard those abominable tory principles of suffrage, which I 
ached to oppose, advocated yesterday, I expected something different here; 
I did not as to England. But while I felt this with regard to England, and 
with regard to the Congregationalists there, and the position they took, 
after having attacked us so much on slavery on every occasion, I felt 
also in my heart that we could afford to be generous to them, if they 
were frank to us. 

It has been said in some of the remarks that " we do not want war." I do 
not want war. I know what war is ; and I tell you, brothers, give your- 
selves to peace always, if you can do it without dishonor. But we want it 
understood we are not afraid of war, — we have had two with that coun- 
try; the last ended at JVeto Orleans, and if we begin again, we can begin- 
from that point, and with the vantage ground of Grant, Sherman, and 
Farragut too. We shall say to England we have got a bill for you to 
settle, and if you don't, these are the sheriffs we send after you, — that's all. 
" We could sweep from the ocean each other's commerce," one of the 
brethren says. Brethren, they swept away ours ; but then their pirates 
ran into ports where we could not follow them; the next time, we follow 
them. 

l!^ow, whatever this Council does, I plant myself on the record that in 
the present position of English Congregationalism I do not hold myself 
responsible for any fraternal fellowship ; but when they express their re- 
pentance for the past, it is different. I would say that " While the lamp 
holds out " 

[Time expired.] [Laughter and applause.] 

Eev. Dr. Thompson, of j!!^ew York. I rise to second the motion upon 
grounds altogether different from those upon which the adoption of it has 
just been advocated. I like every word of that report. I like its truth; 
I hke its candor; I like its manliness; and I like its kindness. I think 
this body is prepared to adopt it unanimously, and therefore I shall be ex- 
tremely brief. 

When we are thus just, as I think we are to our English brethren, let 
us not forget to be just to ourselves. An Englishman has ten reasons to 
study the political geography of continental Europe and the East, where, 
prior to this war, he had one to acquaint himself with the geography and 
institutions of the United States. His relations to us were for the most 
part simply commercial. If you will look into the school-books of Great 
Britain, and see how small a portion is assigned to American affairs, you 
will find some excuse for our brethren for their non-acquaintance with 
our institutions. 

When President Buchanan was called to confront secession from his 
official post, he announced to the world the impossibility of coercing a 
state. As the representative of the United States, he declared to all 
mankind the right of secession, and denied any constitutional or material 



RESPONSE TO FOREIGN DELEGATIONS. 329 

power on our part to prevent it. It was a monstrous crime in him, 
equivalent to a participation in treason [Applause], but he did it. Then 
when our honored and lamented and beloved Lincoln came into oflSce, 
in his inaugural address, in the vain hope of soothing the excited feelings 
of the South, he went out of the way to say, and it was true as he un- 
derstood it, " I have no right and I have no disposition nor intention to 
interfere with slavery in the States where it exists." Kow put these two 
things together, and judge an Englishman by the declaration of our two 
presidents; President Buchanan's declaration that we had no right to 
coerce a state, and President Lincoln's that he had no thought of inter- 
fering with slavery, and can you wonder that he should say, what in the 
world then are you fighting for ? Is it wonderful that they suspended 
their judgment ? 

Then there came the unfortunate Trent complication, exciting blood in 
them, and exciting blood in us. I think this much is due to them. They 
made a sad mistake; they lost a grand opportunity — those Coiigrega- 
tional brethren of ours. "We have labored with them. I have myself 
been in constant correspondence with the leading paper of the Indepen- 
dents in London; and the brethren who have read those letters can testi- 
fy whether I tried to deal faithfully with their consciences upon this sub- 
ject. They have done me the justice to print every line I sent, except 
an exiDosition of General Butler's conduct in ^N'ew Orleans, which may 
have failed to reach them, and which did not appear. 

I know that the silence in their Congregational Union is not a token 
of an explicit want of sympathy in our cause, becaus-e they have had to 
study, as we have had to study here, those nice balancings of policy so as 
not to create a division among themselves, and interfere with their great 
work of the salvation of souls. They have had to watch against dividing, 
disturbing causes among themselves ; and knowing that they did not all 
cordially agree and see eye to eye, they have forborne to have a contest 
upon that ground. Dr. Budington, as a Committee of the Congregational 
Union, wrote to them about the Bi-Centenary Association, and made a 
declaration of principles concerning the war; and they sent back a compli- 
mentary letter about the Bi-Centenary Association and ignored the war. 
It was wrong; it was a mistake; and we felt it; but I do not think we 
should stand here to-day and criminate them because we have given them 
so good an excuse for it. Have we not as a nation been in such com- 
plicity with the system of slavery as to blind our brethren across the 
sea? Xow, that our hands have been washed of that guilt in the most 
precious blood of the land, shall we stand up before God and man and 
say, " We have washed our hands in innocency ; stand by, for we are 
holier than you " ? 

Bev. Dr. Yatjghax, of England. I think I can disabuse your minds 
a little on this subject. I am one of the very few men now living who 
had to do with the formation of our national representation — the Con- 
gregational L^nion of England and Wales. When we set about that 
work, we found it, to our surprise, a very difficult work. Many of our 
old and most influential men stood aloof from it, and were opposed to it, 



330 RESPONSE TO FOREIGN DELEGATIONS. 

under the impression that it might grow into an organized' invasion of 
the liberty of our independent churches. Our Presbyterian brethren, 
too, were not slow to taunt us with having found out the weak places of 
Congregationahsm, with taking a leaf out of their book, and being about 
to come over to them. Our Congregational Union has outlived all that. 
It has come to be for us of vast importance. It has given us a place 
and a power in the eyes of our country which Congregationalism has not 
possessed in England since the days of the Commonwealth. It has been 
seen from its history that it is very possible for institutional indepen- 
dency to be allied with a very effective organization. The independency 
of the churches may be allied with all the advantages, within certain lim- 
its, of concentrated action. 

How have we done this? It has been by a determination not to allow 
any question, relative to which there is a strong division of opinion 
among ourselves, to come up as a question to be decided in our Union. 
Had ^e allowed questions producing excitement and narrow divisions to 
be carried by bare majorities, or it may be by impatient and boisterous 
majorities, our Union would have been anything but what it is. A large 
portion of our more thoughtful and influential men would have withdrawn 
from it, and it would have become the representation of a part, — a sec- 
tion, — and not of British Congregationalism. We may have been in 
error in adopting this course, but that is the course we have pursued. 

Now, in not allowing the discussion of the events of your war, to come 
up in our Congregational Union, we have done by you just as we have 
been doing for the last thirty years by ourselves. God's law requires 
that a man should love his neighbor as himself; but I do not know' that 
it requires that he should love his neighbor beyond himself. We were 
divided, not as to being friends and enemies of your country, because 
there has not been an enemy to your country to my knowledge within the 
range of Congregationalism since these troubles have come upon you; and 
I think I know more of English Congregationalism than any other Eng- 
lishman. If there has been such a rara avis as an English Congrega- 
tionalist opposed to your country, it has not come under my notice. 
There has been diversity of opinion, but not of that kind. When you 
remember what has been said by my esteemed friend. Dr. Thompson, 
when you consider the three thousand miles of ocean rolling between you 
and us, and that we were not likely to have had our attention drawn to 
these things, you will see that we had some reason for hesitating to risk 
our union for the sake of giving expression to our opinion what the re- 
sults of the war ought to be. 

Our press was open to you everywhere. Scores and hundreds of our 
pulpits were open to you if you chose to occupy them. They were oc- 
cupied in your behalf by many of our ablest men. We simply required 
that our Union should restrict itself to the reiteration of its emphatic ut- 
terances against the slave system. IsTow I leave it to your candor, 
Condemn us if you think fit; but I hardly think you will. 

Now, sir, a wc-rd for myself. Since I have come to this country I 
have been in many instances, relative to this question, rather severely 



BESPONSE TO FOREIGN DELEGATIONS. 331 

criticised. I have been so under this roof to-day. It is quite true, my 
brethren, that at the outset of your troubles, I was one of those who had 
the impression that from the nature of the country and from other 
causes, the conquest of the South was not practicable. My impression 
further was that, if it should be practicable, it would be at the cost of 
such a fearful amount of suffering, both in the process and consequent 
upon conquest, that it was hardly to be warranted that even the extinc- 
tion of slavery should be sought for at such a terrible' price. 

If I was a sinner for thinking thus, I can assure you that I was a sin- 
ner in company with many of our most enlightened and of your most 
warm-hearted friends in our country. I can say here, in your presence, 
and in the presence of the Searcher of hearts, that I have not uttered a 
sentiment concerning your affairs at any time that has not been a solemn 
conviction of my mind according to the evidence that has been before 
me at the time. I have never said a word that could be painful to you that 
was not connected with much more pain in my own mind than it was 
likely to bring to you. My affection for your country is, and ever has 
been, next to the affection that I bear my own. [Applause.] My brethren 
in England all know that; you may not know it, but they do, and they 
have grounded the wisdom and justice of sending me here upon what they 
know relative to my feeling toward you. 

I have been represented as being a great check to the Congregational 
Union, preventing its speaking for you on more than one occasion. I 
think in the course of four years I have in two instances uttered a few 
sentences, a very few, relative to it; to the effect that I thought we would 
better go on ^s we had been, and avoid the hazard of wrecking our 
union by introducing what would be a divided question. 

Then I think I may venture to say, without the fear of contradiction, 
that I have done more in my country for the exposition and defense of 
our common principles as Congregationalists, than any other Englishman; 
and I think I have done more for the defense and exposition of your 
Congregationalism than any other Englishman has done. It is only 
three years ago, when we were engaged in our Bi-centenary controversy, 
when our Episcopalians were ransacking your annals, and bringing out 
of them all the instances they could select to show the ignorance and in- 
tolerance of your forefathers, and thus attacking your Congregationalism, 
that I was able to put an end to it; and I did. [Applause.] I gave the 
story as it is, — not garbled as they gave it; and there was an end of that 
kind of warfare. 

It is because my brethren know my heart has been with you, and 
I have been as ready to fight your battles as theirs, that they imagined it 
would be a fitting thing for me to stand here to-day in your presence, and 
bid you God-speed. [Applause.] 

Then as to this war, and as to what is said to have taken place at our 
last annual meeting of the Congregational Union; I am said to have 
breasted opinion, to have opposed the expression of opinion in your favor. 
With submission, that is just the reverse of the truth. Instead of that, 
I consented to the passage of resolutions drawn up, calling for sympathy 



332 RESPONSE TO FOREIGN DELEGATIONS. 

m your behalf ; and said then, in the presence of all my brethren, — 
without the slightest idea of coming here to say anything like it, — the 
substance of what I said the other day in your hearing. My brethren 
know this ; and on those grounds they sent me. 

Then I wish just to say that I have not become converted, as the rev- 
erend gentleman who has addressed the Convention just now, in the 
course of his remarks seemed to imply, from some cowardly motives 
changing my views. I am no coward; not a bit of it. [Applause.] 
And I think I am not a selfish man either. I have said what I have said 
when I have been obliged to speak against you, frankly and honestly; 
and I say everything I say to you, that is kindly and acceptable to you, 
just as frankly. 

I^Tow, what I have seen, from what has been brought before my mind 
during not merely the last year but the whole of this struggle, I have 
certainly received, with regard to your affairs, light I had not before. I 
now believe that those Southern provinces that you have vanquished, 
were the homes of a society that were so corrupt that there was no other 
way of effectually dealing with it besides that you have taken. [Great 
applause.] And I do thank God and congratulate you on the triumph 
of the Northern armies over that portion of your country. [Kenewed 
applause.] I would say again that I think if you could have drifted 
those Southern States a thousand leagues off into the Atlantic, to take 
their pest-house with them, and left them there, it would have been a 
good thing for you to do. But you could not do it. They must be side 
by side with you; and for them to be side by side with the systems at 
work at the jN'orth, I see clearly, would have been to entail upon you 
mischiefs perpetual, and mischiefs the most complicated. Providence 
has dealt with this matter, I believe, in the way intended for your gen- 
eral good; and for the good of humanity. I sincerely congratulate you on 
this account. 

Why have I said this? iTot that I might win favor of those who have 
cast their sneers upon me. I do not ask them for favor. I do not ask 
them for justice. I leave them to what may be pleasing to them. But 
I am very anxious that you should see this matter as it is ; that you 
should see the case of our Congregational Union as it is; that you should 
see on what ground it is that they have sent me her^ into your midst. 
And I make no secret of saying, that though I shall never perhaps look 
upon any face among you again, after a few days more, I should like to 
live in your hearts with the character of an honest man. [Great applause.] 

The hour of taking the recess having arrived, and Mr. 
Beecher being loudly called for, 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Allen, the order of the day requiring 
a recess to be taken at one o'clock, was suspended. 

Eev. Henry Ward Beecher. When I landed in England last year, 
not far from this time, no man could well have persuaded me, from what 



RESPONSE TO FOREIGN DELEGATIONS. 333 

I saw, and felt, and observed in others that felt, that England in any of 
its parts, had either direct or remote sympathy with us. . It seemed to 
me that they were given np to believe a lie that they might be damned; 
and I felt incensed when any man told me there was a deep feeling of 
sympathy for our country two years ago. After I had cooled myself off 
in Switzerland, and come round through phlegmatic Germany, when I 
came back to London, some of the brethren were kind enough to deal 
with me ; and as the result of their faithfulness, and my more intimate 
acquaintance with things, I at last had the eyes of my understanding 
opened, so that I felt, — "Confound those Englishmen, I love them in 
sjDite of myself." 

I could not deny that the allegations that we made on our side, were 
founded, as we looked on things, in justice and in truth. And I could 
not deny, when I saw the interior working of things in England, that 
for the most part the brethren there had reasons and motive causes of 
action which we neither understood on this side, nor, from the nature of 
our institutions and customs, could be made well to understand. But I 
did come to feel, while I was in England, that while there was great dis- 
crepancy of judgment among even those who were our friends, and still 
more among the lukewarm and our enemies, there was a cordial, influen- 
tial feeling among the Dissenters of England, for our strife and our 
cause in America; and I have never had any occasion to change the con- 
viction that I brought with me from my father-land. I loved England 
before I went there with a kind of romantic and poetic love ; and it was 
not decreased, although I was tossed a night and a day upon the sea 
there, and had some fights with the wild beasts at Ephesus ; for I think 
my feelings came back to my father-land with just as much enthusiasm 
and with deeper veneration than before the insurrection broke out. 

I do not say these things to smooth over the matter. I think they are 
an excuse, a palliation, but not a justification. I think they ought to have 
taken a different course. Their convictions were sincere; they were 
thoroughly honest; they believed they were doing their duty; but I dif- 
fer from them in judgment very seriously in this regard. The French- 
men had just as many reasons for mistake; and I felt thoroughly 
ashamed that in a nation speaking another language, they could see like 
daylight through all our difiiculties and appreciate our position so well, 
while those from whom we borrowed our customs, our polity, and most of 
our ideas of government, speaking our own language, stumbled and could 
not see. I felt bad about that; and as for their teachers I did not feel that 
there was any paUiation or justification. It was their place to see. They 
were appointed for seers, and put upon the mountain-top, to distinguish 
between good and evil the world over, to draw the lines the world over; 
and if they have no function for that, what is their function? [Ap- 
plause.] 

But that is all past. We felt it needful in receiving these brethren 
they should understand that we saw, and that they should see, the facts 
of the past, and that they should know that we were not in any manner 
deceived. But that is all; there is nothing more to say; and now let the 



334 RESPONSE TO FOREIGN DELEGATIONS. 

past bury the past; let the dead bury the dead. There is no enmity be- 
tween England and America to-day. [Applause.] I do not believe 
there will be any cause of offense given by the English government. If 
that which I understand to be the demand of our government, as unques- 
tionably it will be, reparation for the losses we have suffered through 
their malfeasance and defective administration, is denied both to be valid 
and to be just, let it be referred to some just and disinterested party. 
[Applause.] I think I may say that the Christian population of America 
are perfectly wilhng to refer our losses to arbijtration ; and that if a just 
arbitrator is found, and if he decides against us, we will repeat one of 
the sublimest spectacles the world has ever seen, — our action in the case 
of the Trent. The moment our Secretary of State said — and it was 
said to the hot heart and fierce zeal of this enkindled nation — that we 
were in the wrong, and we must take such a course, therq never was a 
single word pronounced against it by newspaper, caucus, or people. We 
say that this people, by virtue of their liberty, and intelligence, and by 
virtue of their civil and religious polity, are a nation loving law better 
than any other nation on the earth can. It is the glory of our institu- 
tions that it makes the people at once the fountain of the law, and then the 
mothers and nurses of that law they themselves bring forth, Nowhere 
else is there a disposition so universal to observe that which is found to 
be just by the proper tribunals. And if the tribunal to which we shall 
jointly refer this, shall determine that these losses are not the fault of 
England, and she must not be held responsible, we never shall say 
another word on the subject. [Applause.] 

More than that; we have an account to settle with England. There is 
a reckoning between us, and we tell these brethren they have got to 
come to that and can not shirk it. We are bound to do more for the 
world than they can. [Applause.] We are bound to send two mis- 
sionaries where they send one; and better fellows too. We are bound 
to work more for the education of the common people of the globe. I 
should not wonder if we sent missionaries even to England yet. [Laughter 
and applause.] We acknowledge the tie that binds us to you. It is not 
a vain saying that we are proud of our origin. It is for no offense that 
I say that our greatness arises in our own judgment from the antagonism 
of England. Some have thought that we dominated them. They know 
not our feeling toward them. During the time that Southerners swag- 
gered in our councils, we did; but never, since the days of Washing- 
ton, when i!^orthern counsels prevailed. We are not a warlike people, 
although capable of war on a just occasion. It is not to our taste. It 
is not in consonance with our polity, the current of our thoughts or the 
occupation of our minds. Where did you ever see so large a war so suc- 
cessfully carried on? Where did you ever see so large an army dissolve 
as the snows of March dissolve when April gives advice to them. They 
have gone back to the forge, and the field; and now, everywhere, east 
and west, we are bent again upon the arts of peace and civilization ; and 
in an enthusiastic spirit we are bent on evangelization. And ]^ew Eng- 
land to-day, the most hated of all the parts of the continent, 'New 



RESPONSE TO FOREIGN DELEGATIONS. 335 

England that has been hated, kicked at and cursed everywhere, goaded 
and pursued for the last fifty years, — what is jN'ew England doing to- 
day? Councils, and caucuses, and conventions are working to procure 
money to pour school-books into the South, to support missionaries and 
teachers there, and considering how we shall bind up the wounds we 
were obliged to make. While the South is in trouble, we have stood like 
the father of the whipped boy, crying as much as the boy did. Every 
blow smitten upon them was smitten upon ourselves as well. For my- 
self I never felt as much yearning affection for the South as I feel to-day, 
as a part and parcel of us. To labor for the South is to help not the 
South alone but all mankind. We feel that God has given us to-day this 
large territory, unobstructed with old hereditary institutions, with the evils 
of past generations cleared out of the way, as a field inexhaustible for 
us to cultivate. It is not that we may pride ourselves, or enjoy luxury 
or leisure, but that we may work harder and do more for the regenera- 
tion of the world than those nations tied up and hampered by institutions 
that have come down to them from barbaric ages. And in this great 
work I throw down the gauntlet to you and defy you to outdo us; while, 
in the name of your Christian brethren in America, I extend in greeting, 
the right hand of fellowship, to you, brother Kaleigh, whom I knew 
across the seas, and to you, brother Yaughan, whom I met for the first 
time here. [At this point, Eev. Mr. Beecher, shook hands cordially with 
Dr. Raleigh, and Dr. Yaughan, amid tumultuous applause, cheering, and 
waving of handkerchiefs, concluding with three hearty cheers for " Eng- 
land and America forever." ] 

Go back then; tell your brethren what we have honestly said; that if 
we have spoken to your blame, it is not because we are angry, or cherish 
animosity, not because there is lurking in us any warlike feeling, but 
that we are in the full spirit of fellowship and Christian love with you, 
and long to go on with you side by side in the great work of the civiliza- 
tion and Christianization of the globe. For though the French peo- 
ple have sympathized with us and better understood us in this great 
struggle, after all " blood is thicker than water." [Applause.] I would 
rather have an Englishman back me in a difficulty than any other man 
on the face of the globe, unless it be a Scotchman or an Irishman, and I 
count them all three to make only one Englishman. [Laughter.] In 
this country it takes but one man to make a man. [Renewed laughter.] 
And now, sir, I hope there is peace among us ; and all I ask is, that if 
there is, and if I have helped to make it, I may have some of the bless- 
ing promised to the peace-makers. [Applause.] 

Rev. Dr. Raleigh, was greeted with loud applause, and said : I have 
but one word to say; I think it will be better to say but one word, and 
not even to attempt anything that might be regarded as "adroit." 
[Laughter.] I bethink me of an old minister in Scotland who had the 
habit in teaching his people, — and a very good habit let me say, — of 
expounding the Scriptures book by book and chapter by chapter; and 
of course the good man sometimes came to passages hard to be under- 
stood; and his way of getting over a difficulty, — just such a difficulty I 



336 RESPOXSE TO FOREIGN DELEGATIONS. 

think as we have on hand this morning, — was very convenient, to say 
the least of it. He would say, " No doubt, my Christian brethren, there 
is a great difficulty here, as all the commentators are agreed upon that; 
so let us look the difficulty boldly in the face, and — pass on." [Great 
laughter.] 
A Member. Isn't that " adroit " ? [Renewed laughter.] 
Rev. Dr. E. proceeded : We must pass on, sir. We must pass on into 
a new time, to higher and hoher duties that are awaiting us, through 
all the chequered experiences which come to us as to you in the service 
of our Master. I have, as I said, but one word to utter now; and that 
is, in the spirit of all I have said among you, that I hope we shall pass on 
hand in hand. May God bless you for the kindness, abundant and con- 
tinual, manifested to us in your homes, and the kindly reception given to 
the poor words we have uttered in your sanctuaries and meetings. May 
God bless you, and make you a blessing; and in the memory of the suf- 
fering you have passed through, and in the prospect of the work waiting 
for you to do, may he make you patient and loving, even as he has made 
you strong, and fearless, and free. [Applause.] 

A member moved to amend the address by striking out the 
expression, " With the insolence of a robber." [Referring to the 
Emperor Napoleon.] 

Rev. Dr. Bacon objected. He had thought of putting it, " with the 
insolence of a slaveholder; " but he preferred the expression as it stood. 

The amendment was rejected. 

Rev. Mr. Gulliver. I move that the passage characterizing the 
nation as " boastful and vainglorious," be omitted. I think that was 
true of us when the slave-holders governed and were the mouth-piece of 
the nation, and gave tone to its public sentiment; but I hope that we 
shall not say that it is true of us now. 

The passage was read. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon. I submit that that is true, every syllable of it; and 
that it is very becoming in us to say it under the circumstances. It is not 
the habit of our government under the administration of iJ^Torthern free- 
men to be vainglorious and boastful; but it is the habit of our demo- 
cratic people to-day; and how much of it we have on this platform now. 

Rev. Dr. Kirk, of Massachusetts. John Bull boasts down in the 
belly, and we in the mouth. He feels as large as anybody. 

Rev. Mr. Gulliver. Every traveler in Europe has this thrown in 
his face; and I say it is not true of this'nation that we are more boastful 
or vainglorious than other nations. It would be wronging ourselves to 
adopt that expression, and it would be quoted against us everywhere. 



DEBATE ON ADJOURNMENT. 337 

A Member. I hope it will be qualified by adding " in common with 
all nations." [Laughter.] 

Dr. Bacon. The passage reads: " Our kindred in Great Britain had 
seen, with mingled pride and apprehension, the portentous growth of the 
United States, and had been sometimes disgusted with that boastful and 
vainglorious habit which enters so largely into our national character," 
" and which we inherit from them," — suppose we put that in. [Laugh- 
ter.] If that clause is stricken out, this very sentence will be an instance 
of the vice. They " had seen with mingled pride and apprehension the 
portentous growth of the United States." There is Jonathan for you. 
It is necessary that some clause of voluntary humility should be added. 

The amendment was rejected. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Bacon, the word " hitherto " was in- 
serted, so as to read " which has hitherto entered so largely," &c. 

The report was then adopted. 

It was now half past one o'clock. 

Hon. Linns Child, of Massachusetts, moved that the Council 
meet this afternoon at half past three, instead of three o'clock, 
and continue in session for two hours. 

The motion was rejected, upon division ; ayes, 75, — noes, 82.. 

The Council then took a recess until three o'clock, p. M. 



ArTEEKOO:tT SESSION. 

The Council were called to order at three o'clock, p. M., by 
Hon. C. G. Hammond, First Assistant Moderator. 

Eev. Dr. Budington, of 'New York, moved that the Business Com- 
mittee be instructed to prepare the remaining business of the Coun- 
cil, with the view to adjournment at 5 o'clock, p. m., on Friday. If the 
business was not completed by that time the Council would be kept over 
another Sabbath. Many delegates would be unable to remain; and 
rather than have the business left to be transacted by a small mi- 
nority, he would prefer to hand the subjects remaining over to com- 
mittees to prepare reports, to report at an adjourned meeting six months 
or a year hence; or to refer them to committees representing all shades 
of opinion, to prepare reports, with foot-notes, exjDressing the various 
opinions ; such reports to be printed and distributed to the Council. 

Eev. Messrs. Savage, of Illinois, and Gulliver, of Connecticut, 
opposed the motion, on the ground that the business of the Council would 
require the session to be continued over the Sabbath. 

The motion was rejected. 

22 



338 FREE ITALIAN CHURCH. 

FKEE ITALIAN CHURCH. 

Rev. Edward N. Kirk, d. d., Chairman of the committee on 
Italy, reported the following resolutions : 

WJiereas, The Spirit of the Lord has hreathed on the people of Italy, 
arid rekindled the fires of godliness extinguished by the Eoman hie- 
rarchy; and 

WJiereas, The providence of God is leading this people out from the 
bondage of superstition and of a tyrannic priesthood; therefore, 

Besolved, 1. That this Council recognize with fraternal sjanpathy, and 
with thankfulness to God, their attainment to the blessings of civil and 
religious hberty. 

2. That this Council entertains a lively sympathy with every soul, 
however obscure, there and elsewhere, earnestly searching God's word 
to learn the character and will of God. 

3. That this Council congratulates the various little bands of believers 
who are striving to organize themselves into churches of Christ under 
any of the several forms adopted in our Protestant coimti'ies. 

4. That this Council regards with peculiar interest those who are 
founding free ItaUan churches, independent of foreign control or dicta- 
tion; seeking to rebuild on the foundation of apostles and pro]3hets, 
Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone. 

5. That the Council request the Rev. Messrs. Clark of Milan, and 
Hall of Florence, to convey to our Italian brethren the expression of 
our sympathy, and the assurance that, by prayers and pecuniary contri- 
butions, we will do what in us lies to iDromote the advancement of Christ's 
kingdom in their beautiful and classic land. 

Rev. Dr. Kirk, said: Rev. Mr. Walker having just returned from 
Italy, will present to the Council a very succinct and impressive view of 
the religious condition of Italy. I will merely say that the progress 
of free government has hberated the consciences of the Italians from 
priestly domination. The Bible is now extensively circulated in Sunday 
schools on our plan, and the gospel extensively preached. There are 
three classes of converts ; 1st, those who have embraced the gospel under 
the influence of the British Wesleyan missionaries, who are the first 
missionaries who preached the gospel to them, but who are now drawing 
the lines tightly round them to organize them as a part of the Metho- 
dist church; 2d, the Waldensians, who are trying to form Waldensian 
churches ; and 3d, a body organized upon Congregational principles, and 
called the Free Italian Church. They know nothing of our principles; 
but they have studied the Bible, and do not want to be British Christians, 
or Waldensians, but Italian Christians. One remark they make requires 
a word of explanation, that the Waldensian supreme body is called the 
Waldensian Table. These men say they have left the Papal Chair, and 
do not want to be covered by the Waldensian Table. 

Rev. Edward A. "Walkee, of Massachusetts (recently from Italy). 
I come bringing you the news that there is at present going on in Italy 



FREE ITALIAN CHURCH. 339 

a movement which for power, extent, and spiritual purity, has scarcely 
been equaled in the history of modern Christianity. You may not be 
aware that at the present time there is being convened in the ancient 
city of Bologna what might be called a national council of the Congrega- 
tional churches of Italy. There was some talk when I left of calling this 
meeting the Alliance; but whatever the name of it may be, the tenden- 
cies of this movement are distinctively Congregational. You may hear 
through Presbyterian and Church of England channels, these churches 
stigmatized as Plymouthists. The Plymouthists, as you may know, do 
not recognize a ministry. Their ministers are tradesmen or mechanics 
during the week, who go into the pulpit on Sunday. These men in Italy 
are not Plymouthists ; for there evangelists are set apart to preach to 
them, and nothing would more fully meet their feelings and principles than 
the establishment of a theological seminary for the training of an effi- 
cient ministry. 

Again, these are not independent churches; but in all matters which 
concern the brotherhood of churches they co-operate with one another. 
They recognize this to be a duty as fully as we do. Again, they are not 
Presbyterians, because this mutual government is only advisory in its 
nature. They plant themselves on the Congregational principle that sov- 
ereignty in the church as well as in the State is vested in the people and 
can not be delegated by them to a synod, any more than it can be usurped 
by a hierarchy of priests. Thus those free Italian churches are distinctly 
Congregational. 

With regard to the extent of this movement and its power, I am justi- 
fied in sajaug that it is one of the most important that the Christian 
world has ever seen. In the first i^lace, it is a popular movement. It is 
not carried on by the influence of a few individual minds, but it is rather 
the flowing together of many individual currents of thought and feeling 
forced out of the hearts of the people by the fear of papal oppression. 
It is not an intellectual movement. 'No new statement, as to doctrine, 
has been brought out by it. It is not a sentimental phenomenon, 
resulting from extensive revivals. But it is a determination on the part 
of a priest-ridden people, that they will have their rights, that they will 
throw off" for ever the power of priestcraft, that they will have the Bible 
in their own hands, and interpret it with their own minds, and govern 
themselves according to its precepts. 

Hence this movement is popular. It is a favorite with the people and 
spreads among them with great rapidity and power. In the city of 
Milan, there is at the present time a church of fifteen hundred members, 
as good Congregationalists as we are. And in Bologna, Cologne, and 
Qther cities of Northern Italy, are churches already founded and estab- 
lished upon this basis. We only need men and means to establish a 
Congregational church in every city and town in that land. Let me say 
here that this movement is especially popular with the middle classes, 
the working men of Italy. 

With regard to the spiritual power of this movement, it is strong and 
full, because it is a movement with the Bible in hand. At a meeting 



340 FREE ITALIAN CHURCH. 

which I attended a few weeks ago in the city of Milan, I was struck with 
the fact that almost every person present had a well-worn copy of the 
Bible; and whenever a quotation was made from the Scriptures, every 
one at once found the passage in his own book. They seemed to be 
unwilling to take anything from the lips of a preacher, without confirm- 
ing it by the word of God. 

I asked whether the members of these churches were spiritually con- 
verted men in every sense of the word; and was assured that they were. 
In that respect they differ from the Waldensians, and the other church; 
for those churches are national institutions, and multitudinous. Every- 
body belongs to a church there, either Catholic or Protestant; and par- 
takes of the communion once a year for the sake of securing his civil 
rights. But in these churches, it is not enough for a man to hate the 
pope and priests ; he must love the Lord Jesus Christ, or "he can not 
be a member of the church. 

When we look at this movement, thus spontaneous and national in its 
character, we are struck with this fact, that these people, left to them- 
selves, in their reaction against the power of papacy, and taking the 
Bible in their own hands to be governed by its precepts, naturally come 
down into Congregationalism; and we have every reason to believe that 
they will be true to the Congregational principles upon which they now 
stand. 

It is in this movement that lie our strongest hopes for the regenera- 
tion of Italy. When we contrast this movement with the other agencies 
at work there, we shall see this more clearly. When Italy was first 
thrown open to the gospel, many agencies went to work to plant the 
Bible throughout the country. These agencies are all of them feeble, 
and to a certain extent they operate against one another. The Wesleyans 
try to bring in their own peculiarities and force them upon the Italian 
j)eople. The Episcopalians try to force upon them the sine qua non of a 
prayer-book. The Waldensians must bring everything under the con- 
trol of their synod. These different agencies have done an immense 
amount of good; and yet there is a want in the hearts of the Italian 
people which they have not reached. The Italians do not want to be 
Wesleyans, Church of England people, Scotch Presbyterians, or Wal- 
densians. They want to be Italians; to preserve their own national 
peculiarities, and not accex)t any of those foreign peculiarities which these 
agencies have tried to bring upon them. Thus this movement has come 
out of the free hearts of the people, — a free Italian church, a Congrega- 
tional church; and it is upon this movement that the people everywhere 
rely. • 

5^ow, I love the Waldensians. You all love them. You know their 
history. There is a romance about them; and in their historic antiquity, 
tlifire is something that satisfies the cravings of many of the Itahans them- 
selves. But after all, these Itahan Congregationalists, in their reaction 
against Papacy, go back of the question of historic legitimacy, as they 
are bound to do. They fall back upon the archaic principle that the 
government of the church belongs to the members of the church; that 



BOOKS AND TRACTS. , 341 

the servants of Christ are to reign priests and kings with him ; not the 
clergy with gowns and bands, but all the members of the church. This 
is the principle. It is older than the apostles. It is as old as creation. 
Men fell from it in Adam, and were restored to it in Christ. And although 
the seed long slumbered in the ground, it has at last become a tree with 
healing in its leaves for the healing of the nations. [The allotted time 
here expired.] 

The report was accepted, and the accompanying resolutions 
were adopted. 

BOOKS AND TKACTS. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut, from the committee on Books 
and Tracts, read the following report : — 

The committee to whom was referred the subject of the relation of our 
denomination to Books and Tracts respectfully report : 

They have considered the subject in the following order: I. What are 
the existing relations of the denomination to literature ? II. What are 
the disadvantages of the present order of things? III. What measures, 
if any, may wisely be introduced to obviate these disadvantages? 

I. The Congregational churches, in all systematic operations by means 
of books, stand practically related to literature mainly through six differ- 
ent book-manufacturing and book-selling corporations; namely, 1. The 
American Bible Society. 2. The American Tract Society, Boston. 3. The 
American Tract Society, New York. 4. The American Sunday School 
Union. 5. The Massachusetts Sabbath School Society. 6. The Congre- 
gational Board of Publication. 

Our method of operation through these corporations is simply this : to 
pay our charitable contributions (amounting to a very large sum annu- 
ally) to the treasuries of these corporations, by which they are expended, 
partly in the preparation of stereotype plates and the manufacture of 
books ; partly in the donation of books to missionary societies, churches, 
Sunday schools, and other distributing agencies independent of the pub- 
lishing societies ; and partly in the maintenance of a system of book- 
selling or distribution, through depositories or colporters, by the publish- 
ing societies themselves. But our contributions for doing good by the 
circulation of good literature all pass through the hands, and are sub- 
jected to the discretion, of those concerned in the manufacture and sale 
of books, and are necessarily more or less complicated with their busi- 
ness arrangements. 

II. Disadvantages of our preseyit method. 1. Literary and Moral. 2. 
Economical. 

1. The literary and moral disadvantages of our present method of ben- 
evolent operation by means of books may be stated .briefly thus : that it 
shuts us up almost wholly to the use of the book^ issued by the societies 
which are the recipients of our contributions. The narrow classes of liter- 
ature, to v^hich we have been thus disastrously restricted, may be thus 
defined: (1.) A negative religious literature, from which all character- 



842 BOOKS AND TRACTS. 

istics of any individual or party have been scrupulously eliminated. (2.) 
A merely sectarian literature. And even within these very narrow lim- 
its we have had no access in our benevolent operations to the general 
field of such literature, but have been debarred from the publications 
of all private firms, and of societies other than those through which we 
have operated. 

Some of the sorts of literature from the public use of which we have 
thus suflered ourselves to be excluded are these: (1.) Christian seci<7ar 
literature. For certain religious and philanthrophic uses, — as for in- 
stance, for ship, and garrison, and hospital libraries, — an exclusively 
religious literature is inadequate. (2.) Generally the works of men 
characterized by the highest force and originality, whose writings cannot, 
without an excess of mutilation, be brought within the prescribed limits 
of the publishing societies, whether on the denominational, or on the 
" catholic," basis. (3.) The works of good men of other denominations 
which are marked by any of their denominational iDeculiarities. (4.) The 
books from the publication of which our own societies have been fore- 
stalled by the activity of other societies or private firms, or from which 
they are debarred hj copyright; and this class includes a large propor- 
tion of the best productions of our own time and country. 

It can not be doubted that one of the most serious disabilities with 
which Puritan principles have been crippled in their progress has been 
the bondage under which they have been placed to publishing societies, 
and especially to those which have been constructed on that fallacious 
" catholic basis," which presumes that the condition of Christian union 
is the repression of individual convictions. 

At the same time, it must be considered that in some cases, being de- 
barred from the use of the hest literature, we have been paying lavishly 
for the circulation of much that is second-rate or third-rate. It is es- 
pecially true in the case of the old publication societies, the l^ew York 
American Tract Society, and the American Sunday School Union, that 
their catalogues are cumbered with many works proved to be unsalable, 
or grown obsolete and superseded by better works on the same subject, 
which, nevertheless (the stereotype plates being on hand), continue to be 
manufactured, because, although they can not be sold, they can be given 
away at the expense of the churches. 

It is by no means the least of our present moral disadvantages in this 
matter, that the essential and recognized inadequacy of the system of 
publishing societies to supply the books needed, especially for Sunday- 
school libraries, has brought in among us a mixed multitude of books 
that have passed no responsible revision, and from which the majority of 
purchasers have no means of making wise selection. The mixture of 
pernicious books in Sunday-school libraries is a grievous evil, to which 
our present arrangements afibrd no remedy. 

2. JEco7iomical Disadvantages of our present system. 

It is theoretically bad economy to intrust large sums of money for the 
purchase and distribution of goods to the discretion of the same concern, 
which manfactures the goods and keeps them for sale. Theoretically, it 






BOOKS AND TRACTS. 343 

would be better that if various concerns, public or private, have under- 
taken to produce good books and tracts, and offer them for sale, the 
charitable gifts of the public should go into the hands, not of these inter- 
ested parties, but of other and disinterested parties, who shall expend 
them wherever they can get the best books for the least money. 

We should not press this theoretical point against a system which, on 
the whole, was found to work well. But, in fact, the very evils which 
might have been predicted from this system are widely believed to exist. 
This evil, certainly, has occurred, — that in consequence of their double 
position, as being at once the buyers and the sellers, the publishing so- 
cieties have been subjected to constantly renewed swsp^c^ons, which, how- 
ever undeserved, have been to them an annoyance and a hindrance. If 
they had been either buyers only, to give away, or manufacturers only, to 
sell, they would have escaped these imputations. If our donations had 
been intrusted to disinterested parties, with liberty to go into open mar- 
ket for the goods, they would have brought to bear on these various man- 
ufacturing corporations the healthful influence of competition, both with 
each other and with private enterprise. Private booksellers have constant- 
ly declared, that, if they were allowed equitably to compete with charitable 
corporations, they could undersell them. Th-ere could be no imaginable 
loss or disadvantage to the Christian public in giving them the chance. 

3. JVIiat measures, if any, may he wisely introduced to obviate existing 
disadvantages ? 

"We will not undertake, in this place, to lay out the details of a better 
system than the present. "What we want is some arrangement by which 
the church may reach forth her hand into every dei^artment of literature, 
and take the best books for her use, and place them wherever they are 
needed, distributing mainly by the hands of her servants, as an incident in 
the main work of spreading the gospel. Such an arrangement we do not 
believe to be beyond the wit of man. It would require a board of Chris- 
tian scholars and critics, who should thoroughly winnow the vast mass 
of books and tracts that are offered to the iDublic by societies of every 
sort and sect, and by private firms, and present the pubhc with a new 
catalogue, made up only from the best among them all; and a board of 
capable business-men, who should see that the alms of the churches were 
not spent to disadvantage, and who should undertake to apply donations 
according to the intent of the donors. It would be a simple and inexpen- 
sive institution. 

The committee take pleasure in announcing the fact, that these consid- 
erations have been for some time before the minds of some of the best 
and wisest men in the country, and that preliminary steps have already 
been taken, under the auspices of President Woolsey, of Yale College, 
President Hopkins, of Williams College, and others, which, it is hoped, 
will result in supplying this desideratum. 

(Signed) H. W. Beecher, 

Leonard Bacon, 

Jr. 



1 



344 DECLARATION OF FAITH. 

Eev. Dr. Bacon, remarked, while reading the above: The chairman 
of the committee (Eev. Hemy Ward Beecher) stated to me that he 
found, a year or two after his settlement in Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, 
that in the Sunday-school library they had complete sets of the works of 
Captain Marryat and of Bulwer's novels, I told him that if he were to 
make that statement here, there would be surprise, first, at the books 
being there, and second, at his having objected to them. [Laughter.] 
' Hon. Mr. Hammond, of Illinois. Will you tell us what reply he 
made ? 

Eev. Dr. Bacon. I think I had better not say. He intimated that 
he had not so much objection to them as I thought he ought to have 
had. 

The report was accepted. 

The question being upon the adoption of the accompanying 
resolution, several members objected to it, especially upon the 
ground that it was indefinite and incomprehensible. 

The Moderator. (Hon. C. G-. Hammond in the chair.) If the res- 
olution were omitted, the report would go to the churches for what it was 
worth. 

On motion of Eev. Dr. Eddy, of Massachusetts, the resolu- 
tion was stricken out. 

The report was then adopted. 

DECLAEATIOK OF FAITH,.. 

Rev. J. 0. Fiske, of Bath, Maine, chairman of the committee 
to whom was referred the report of the preliminary committee 
on a Declaration of Faith, read the following report : — 

PBELIMINAEY REMARK. 

The committee, on presenting the following report to the Council, regret 
that time and circumstances would not allow them to prepare a condensed 
statement of the doctrines held by our denomination. We desire it to 
be distinctly understood that the brief confession of the faith which we 
hold in concert with the great body of believers, is in no sense designed 
to be regarded as a creed for our churches. 

EEPOET. 

When the churches of New England assembled in a general synod 
at Cambridge, in 1648, they declared their assent, " for the substance 
thereof," to the Westminster Confession of Faith. When, again, these 
churches convened in a general synod, at Boston, in 1680, they declared 
their approval (with shght verbal alterations) of the doctrinal symbol 



DECLARATION OF FAITH. 345 

adopted by a synod of the Congregational churches in England, at Lon- 
don, in 1658, and known as the " Savoy Confession," which in doctrine is 
almost identical with that of the Westminster Assembly. And yet 
again when the churches in Connecticut met in council at Saybrook, in 
1708, they " owned and consented to " the Savoy Confession as adopted 
at Boston, and offered this as a public symbol of their faith. 

Thus, from the beginning of their history, the Congregational churches 
in the United States have been allied in doctrine with the Eeformed 
churches of Europe, and especially of Great Britain. The eighth article 
of the " Heads of Agreement," established by the Congregational and 
Presbyterian ministers in England in 1692, and adopted at Saybrook in 
1708, defines this position in these words : " As to what appertains to 
soundness of judgment in matters of faith, we esteem it suflacient that a 
church acknowledge the Scriptures to be the word of God, the perfect 
and only rule of faith and practice, and own either the doctrinal part of 
those commonly called the Articles of the Church of England, or the 
Confessions or Catechisms, shorter or larger, compiled by the Assembly 
at Westminster, or the Confession agreed on at the Savoy, to be agreeable 
to the said rule." 

In conformity, therefore, with the usage of previous councils, we, the 
elders and messengers of the Congregational churches in the United 
States, do now profess our adherence to the above-named Westminster 
and Savoy Confessions for " substance of doctrine." We thus declare our 
acceptance of the system of truths which is commonly known among us 
as Calvinism, and which is distinguished from other systems by so exalt- 
ing the sovereignty of God as to " establish " rather than take away the 
" liberty " or free-agency of man, and by so exhibiting the entire charac- 
ter of God as to show most clearly " the exceeding sinfulness of sin." 

At the same time we re-atfirm the fundamental principle of Congrega- 
tionalism, that the Bible is " the only suflQcient and invariable rule of 
religion; "^ that, in order to attain a faith which is " right and divine, the 
word of God must be the foundation of it, and the authority of the word 
the reason of it." ^ We " ought to account nothing ancient that will not 
stand by this rule, and nothing new that will." ^ " It was the glory of 
our fathers, that they heartily professed the only rule of their religion, 
from the very first, to be the Holy Scripture." ^ 

Besides thus expressing the faith which we hold as a denomination, we 
deem the present a fit occasion to express the earnestness of our sympa- 
thy with all those Christian churches who are agreed with us in the essen- 
tial truths of the gospel; especially as our common faith is now assailed 
by popular and destructive forms of unbelief, which deny the living and 
personal God, which reject the possibility of a supernatural revelation 
by Jesus Christ, which exclude the fact of sin and the hope of redemp- 
tion. 

Against these dangerous errors, we, in common with all Christian 
believers confess our faith in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy 

1 Preface to the Savoy Confession as adopted at Saybrook in 1708. 



346 DECLARATION OF FAITH. 

Ghost, the only living and true God ; in Jesus Christ the incarnate Word, 
who is exalted to be our Eedeemer and Eang; and in the Holy Comforter, 
who is present in the church to regenerate and sanctify the soul. 

With the whole church, we confess the common sinfulness and ruin of 
our race, and acknowledge that it is only through the work accomphshed 
by the life and expiatory death of Christ that we are justified before 
God and receive the remission of sins ; and that it is through the presence 
and grace of the Holy Comforter alone that we hope to be delivered from 
the power of sin and to be perfected in holiness. 

We believe also in the organized and visible church, in the ministry of 
the word, in the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Sujjper, in the 
resurrection of the body, and in the final judgment, the issues of which 
are eternal life and everlasting punishment. 

We receive these truths on the testimony of God, given originally 
through prophets and apostles, and in the life, the miracles, the death, the 
resurrection of his Son our divine Eedeemer. This testimony is pre- 
served for the church in the Scriptures of the Old and jSTew Testament 
which were composed by holy men as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost, 

We affirm our belief that those who thus hold " one faith, one Lord, 
one bajDtism," together constitute the one catholic church, the several 
households of which, though called by difierent names, are the one body 
of Christ; and that these members of his body are sacredly bound to 
keep " the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace," and to dwell together 
in the same community in harmony and mutual fellowship. 

We hold it to be a distinctive excellence of our Congregational system 
that it exalts that which is more, above that which is less, important, and 
by the simplicity of its organization facilitates, in communities where 
the population is limited, the union of all true believers in one Christian 
chm'ch; and that the division of such communities into several weak and 
jealous societies, holding the same common faith, is a sin against the 
unity of the body of Christ, and at once the shame and scandal of 
Christendom. 

We bless the God of our fathers for the inheritance of these doctrines 
which have been transmitted to us their children. We invoke the help 
of the divine Eedeemer, that, through the presence of the j)romised Com- 
forter, he will enable us to transmit them in pm-ity to our children. We 
rejoice, that, through the influence of our free sj stem of apostolic order, 
we can hold fellowship with all who acknowledge Christ, and act effi- 
ciently in the work of restoring unity to the divided church, and of 
bringing back harmony and peace among all " who love our Lord Jesus 
Christ in sincerity." 

We believe that these truths and this free spirit have blessed our coun- 
try in the past, that they have made ;N'ew England what she is in the 
present, and have carried her principles, by other denominations as well 
as our own, throughout the Union, while, in our recent struggle, they 
have largely contributed to redeem and save the nation. 

In the critical times that are before us as a nation, times at once of 



DECLARATION OF FAITH. 347 

duty and of danger, we rest all our hope in the gospel of the Son cf God. 
It was the grand peculiarity of our Puritan Fathers, that they held 
this gospel, not merely as the ground of their personal salvation, but as 
declaring the worth of man by the incarnation and sacrifice of the Son 
of God; and therefore applied its principles to elevate society, to regu- 
late education, to civilize humanity, to purify law, to reform the church 
and the State, to assert, to defend, and to die for liberty; in short, to 
mold and redeem by its all-transforming energy everything that belongs 
to man in his individual and social relations. 

It was the faith of our fathers that gave us this free land in which we 
dwell. It is hj this faith only that we can transmit it to our children, a 
free and haj^py, because a Christian commonwealth. 

We acknowledge the duty that is laid upon us by the Redeemer to 
carry this gospel into every part of this land and to all nations, and 
to teach all men the things which he has commanded us to observe and to 
do. May He to whom all " power is given in heaven and in earth " 
fulfill the i^romise which is all our hope : " Lo, I am with you alway, even 
to the end of the world." To him be praise in the church for ever, 
Amen. 

. Tor the Committee, 

JOHN" O. riSKE,'C/imVman. 

The report was accepted. 
Rev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio, moved its adoption. 
Rev. Mr. Balkam, of Maine, moved to substitute the original 
paper, read by Rev. Dr. Thompson. 

Eev. Dr. Thompsoit, of ISTew York. I hope that amendment will not 
prevail. I will give you my opinion on that subject in a very few words. 
Notwithstanding the services rendered by Dr. Lawrence in preparing 
the report for the committee, that report cost us no little thought and 
labor and care. But lam sure that I speak the sentiments of my breth- 
ren upon the committee, as well as my own, when I say that we have not 
the least personal desire that that particular document which we pre- 
pared should be adopted by this body in preference to any other. Our 
aim in the prei3aration of that document was, not to bring forward our 
own opinions specifically, and to urge them upon any body, but to pre- 
pare, as we were instructed to do, a declaration of the faith commonly 
received among our churches. And we met and prepared that declaration 
upon a basis which, by anticipation, might be acceiDtable to the great and 
most respectable body of brethren and fathers who would be here con- 
vened. 

I have given this but a hasty reading here, but it strikes me as, in sev- 
eral particulars, a decided improvement upon the document which I had 
the honor, as chairman of the other committee, to submit. It is based 
upon the same general principle; and I am sure that we can agree to a 
declaration of faith upon no other principle. We canvassed that matter 
so thoroughly, I am sure we were not mistaken. We said. The Council 



E48 DECLARATION OF FAITH. 

may do as they please with the words, but they must come back to the 
two essential ideas: maintaining the historic unity of our body in th;at 
grand system of theology which has been the hfe of our churches here, 
and which our Western brethren need to-day, more than our fathers 
needed it two hundred years ago; and, on the other hand, we must, in 
these present times, reach forth widely the hand of fellowship to all who 
love our Lord Jesus Christ, by avoiding any offensive statement of ]3ecu- 
liarities of doctrine. We prepared our paper uj^on that jDrinciple, with 
such measure of wisdom and grace — and we humbly thought and felt 
that the grace of God was with us — as was vouchsafed to us. 

This declaration adheres to that principle. It is an improvement to 
place it in the form of confession, " We believe," instead of the abstract 
form of declaration which we had followed. This comes from practical 
gentlemen, theological professors, and not from such speculative gentle- 
men as were engaged ui3on the other. [Laughter.] But whatever may 
be the verbal comparison we may institute between these two documents, 
the fact that we have had upon the committee which made this report, a 
large representative body of pastors and deacons of all schools — if it is 
worth while to talk of schools here; I do not belong to any myself — and 
from all parts of the country; and we have added to these a representa- 
tive from every one of our theological seminaries. They have sat upon 
this document carefully and prayerfully, in whole committee and by sub- 
commitee, as I understand, for these many days; for which they largely 
deserve the thanks of this Council; and some of us know how tedious 
and responsible that sort of work is. They largely deserve thanks from 
us for denying themselves the pleasures and excitement of this meeting 
to attend to this work. Their work is well done, and I should be very 
sorry, although I acknowledge the complimentary courtesy of the 
mover of this amendment, to have any other declaration brought up here 
to impede the passage of that which this committee have to-day reported 
to us. 

Kev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio. I should not have risen to advocate 
any motion upon this subject, had I not felt constrained, at an earher 
stage of our proceedings, to offer a resolution relative to this general sub- 
ject. As my vote will rest not alone upon my conviction of the excel- 
lence of the declaration now submitted, nor alone upon my conviction of 
the wisdom of issuing such a declaration by this Council, I can not ex- 
plain it without a brief recurrence to the steps by which the Council has 
been brought into its present relations to this subject; and I think the 
consideration of this may bring those who have not been in favor of issu- 
ing any declaration, to the unanimous conclusion to adopt the paper be- 
fore us. 

The preliminary meeting of the State committees in Kew York, sent, 
in the letters missive to the churches, a i^roposition, that, among other 
topics, we consider the expediency of issuing a declaration of our faith. 
So far as the Ohio delegation is concerned, and I suppose it is true of 
other State committees, that preliminary meeting was authorized to call 
a jSTational Council, if thought advisable, for certain specific reas'^ns, of 



DECLAEATION OF FAITH. 349 

which this was not one. They were pleased, however, to include this 
in their letters missive ; and it has been responded to by all the churches, 
and they all came up to consider the expediency of issuing such a declar- 
ation. 

The i)aper submitted to us by the committee appointed at the prelim- 
inary meeting did not argue that question. It assumed it. The whole 
paper rested upon the assumption that the issuing of such a paper was 
expedient. There were considerations bearing upon the expediency of 
the thing, wholly irrespective of the merits of any paper that might be 
presented here. TTe could not do what was asked here, without taking 
that question into account. The'committee on Church polity did discuss 
it, and gave reasons in favor of the adoption of such a document. There- 
fore, under the rule which precluded the discussion of a paj^er, but left 
us entirely free to instruct a committee, I moved the reference to a com- 
mittee with instructions. 

I was understood, I find, by more than one in favor of that motion for 
instructions, to argue in favor of a certain view and opinion upon the gen- 
eral measure, which I could not have conscientiously done, because I had 
not, at that time, any opinion upon the general subject which I wished to 
maintain respecting the paper, or the expediency of issuing any declara- 
tion. I urged that the committee should be thus instructed for the valid 
reason, that this topic did not enter into the original conception of this 
Council; that it was one upon which our churches were ti-aditionall}^ sen- 
sitive — naturally and justly so. And, if we accepted the issuing of the 
paper as a foregone conclusion, without considering the expediency of it, 
I felt that the result would not be satisfactory to the churches. But, as 
able a committee as the body could raise have taken the whole subject 
under advisement, and have thought it exiDedient to issue a declaration, 
and have united in the declaration which is now before us. My indi^dd- 
ual opinion is, that the faith of our churches never stood in a 'fairer hght 
before the world than at the time this Council came together; and that 
what we wanted was not so much to declare our faith, as to prove our 
faith by our works, — making more account of the fact that we are 
Christians than of the fact that we are Congregationalists, though by no 
means overlooking the latter; but coming together as members of the 
Church of Christ, to occu^Dy the field which the providence of God has 
given to us, to lay our plans for taking possession of it in the name of the 
Lord. I thought it desirable, if we could, to come together as a iSTational 
Council, for this practical work, without discussing the faith and polity 
of the churches; because, if that is understood to be the work of a 'Nsl- 
tional Council, we can not meet oftener than once in a century, or, per- 
haps, two centuries; while, upon the other plan, we might secure the 
benefit of occasional, and, perhaps, stated meetings of this kind. 

But whatever may have been my opinion originally upon the question 
of the expedienc}^ of issuing such a declaration, I certainly think we 
should now be liable to grave misconception, if we should fail to send 
one forth at the stage which the matter has now reached. I heartily join 
in the adoption of the paper now submitted, although I regarded the for- 



850 DECLARATION OF FAITH. 

mer paper as a very able document, and could have voted for it. I give the 
preference to that which has been read this morning, for this reason 
among others, that I observe in it a hearty recognition of other churches 
of Christ, churches of other denominations;' and I feel that we are bound 
as Congregationalists to recognize as true churches of Christ these local 
companies of believers connected, according to their own ideas, with na- 
tional organizations which we ignore. To the churches themselves, as 
Christian brethren, we ought to extend the right hand of fellowship ; and 
as far as permitted, we should co-operate with them in our work of 
faith and labor of love. 

Rev. Mr. Balkam, of Maine. I trust that this Council may be ex- 
pected to vote for the paper which it prefers, and not out of deference to 
any committee. In moving the adoption of Dr. Thompson's report, I 
did not move it as anything complimentary to him, or to the committee 
of which he was chairman; but because I preferred his report and be- 
lieved that it was right, and that it exj)ressed in a remarkable degree the 
convictions of this Council. I can not doubt that the Council, if it will 
follow its own convictions, will .prefer the first report. 

There are some things in the report which has just been read which I 
like very much indeed. I thought it was great felicity in the admirably 
conceived and admirably expressed rej^ort of Dr. ThomjDson, that it did 
pursue what it characterizes as the abstract form ; that it did not say, 
" We believe." I thought the Congregational churches were indepen- 
dent churches, and were jealous of having any council, even a national 
council, prescribe forms of faith to them. I thought this original report 
very ingeniously avoided any objection of that kind, by saying, " We 
bear testimony to these doctrines ; we do not prescribe them ; we do not 
enjoin them upon anybody; but this Council, an assembled body of 
Christians, meeting in Boston, begs leave to bear its testimony so and 
so." I submit that it was admirably done; and if the Council prefer the 
original report, I hope they will adopt it. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. It is with regret that I obtrude any 
thought of mine upon the Council at this time; but I feel constrained, — 
being such an one as the apostle Peter speaks of as " Paul the aged," 
for I am a little of an old man, — I feel constrained to say a few words 
upon the subject now before the Council. It has seemed to me from the 
beginning that the whole scheme of an advance and aggressive action in 
this country, and especially of our aggressive action upon the States re- 
covered from the late rebellion, is dependent upon being able to declare 
with one heart and one voice what our faith is — what is our united faith 
as a Christian body. 

I must say here, and I hope I may be found to be in error, that I have 
had some apprehension that some of our brethren in some parts of the 
country have an idea of Congregationalism that it consists in believing 
nothing in particular. I remember a brother who read here yesterday, 
as a sufficient declaration of our faith, the ancient and present condition 
of membership in our churches. We all of us hold, I trust, that every 
disciiDle of Christ, however weak his faith, if he have intelhgence enough 



DECLARATION OF FAITH. 351 

and faith enough to make it manifest that he beheves in the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and trusts in him for the salvation of his soul, and intends to fol- 
low him, has a right to come to the Lord's table, and be recognized as a 
fellow-disciple, and be a member of any of our churches. 

I beheve all our schools, so far as we have any schools, are agreed 
upon this. But I do not believe that a profession of personal faith in 
the Lord Jesus Christ, be it ever so satisfactory, is a sufficient profes- 
sion of faith for a church to make that offers itself for the more inti- 
mate communion and fellowship of the Congregational churches ; nor do 
I believe it is a sufficient profession of faith for a man to make, who, at 
the call of any church, is presented before an ecclesiastical council as a 
candidate for ordination for the work of the Christian ministry. I believe 
that for the Christian ministry we are to require also a general declara- 
tion, not simply of personal faith and repentance, — repentance toward 
God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, — but such a profession 
of doctrinal belief as shall show the competence of the man rightly to 
divide the word of truth. 

I believe, furthermore, — I am making something of a declaration of 
faith myself, — that it is the right and the duty of any such body of rep- 
resentatives as those representing the Congregational churches of the 
land, to stand up, and with one heart and one voice to say what we be- 
lieve, — what we unitedly believe, and not what this or that particular 
colleague believes or would like to have other people believe; not what 
a few perhaps would like to impose by some sort of force or coercion 
upon people that do not believe it, but what we ourselves believe; be- 
cause we who are here assembled know that, one and all, there is a great 
body of Christian doctrine upon which we are unanimous; not unani- 
mous, perhaps, in any possible statement of it, but unanimous as to the 
substance of it, and which we know our churches hold as the basis of 
their special fellowship and communion, and co-operation in the advance- 
ment of the kingdom of Christ. 

We are not Arminianists, and we do not want to invite the body of 
Arminian clergy, or the Arminian Methodists, to come in and be as one 
with us. We should fall out by the way very speedily. But I am will- 
ing and desirous to* make such a declaration of our common faith as 
shall disarm the hereditary prejudices and antipathies of other bodies of 
Christians, and show them, if possible, in its attractiveness and beauty 
and power, our common system of faith. 

There is this difference to be observed, which I think the brother who 
spoke last did not' adequately realize: there is a difference between a 
profession of faith made, and a confession of faith imposed. It is the 
history of Congregationalism to protest everywhere against imposed 
confessions of faith. I protest against them everywhere. An imposed 
prayer-book 1 protest against. An imposed confession of faith I protest 
against. I protest against that entire Presbyterian system of imposing 
confessions of faith. I hold it to be not only inconsistent with the high- 
est freedom and purity of the churches, but actually and absolutely de- 
moralizing. It is an idol set up in the church of God. I go any length in 



352 DECLARATION OF FAITH. 

opposition to that whole system of imposed confessions of faith which a 
man does not make for himself, which he does not understand, about 
which judicatories dispute and wrangle, and which every man, under 
penalty of losing his living, shall swear by, through thick and thin. It 
is an idol, and contrary to the second commandment. [Applause.] 

Let me make my own profession of faith, and I can make as good a 
one, and, if need be, as long a one, as anybody else. But we do not want 
to make a long profession of faith here; and no profession of faith we 
may make can by any possibility be imposed upon anybody. ISTo pro- 
fession of faith we may make can bind anybody's conscience. Surely, 
if we can unite in adopting a report like that placed upon your records, 
we can unite in adopting a report like that now under consideration. 
We can say as a Christian assembly, as a representative assembly of 
Christian pastors and messengers, that we do hold in substance to that 
great, strong, iron-ribbed doctrine which was the common faith in the 
Reformation; which has come down from Paul, through Augustine, and 
Calvin, and, among us, through Edwards and Hopkins. "We can say 
that we hold the substance of that; not that we swallow the whole of 
Hopkins' body of divinity at a gulp; not that we swallow even Dwight's 
more diluted system of theology ; not that we swallow the entire West- 
minster Catechism, in every angle of it, — but the great body of the doc- 
trine^ and, like the New Orleans minister, we will hold it, though we die 
for it. 

At the same time we can say, as this last report says, here is a body 
of doctrines which we do not profess to be peculiarly ours, but which 
are held by all evangelical Christians with whom we co-operate or desire 
to co-operate, which we hold in common with them. I hope — I am con- 
fident, that when the question is put to this Council, " Will you accept 
this report, and adopt this declaration of your faith? " the yea will be 
unanimous ; and we shall unite, as the Council or Synod of 1648 united, 
in an anthem of praise to God for the unanimity. 

Professor Porter, of Yale College. I rise for the purpose of say- 
ing a few words in order to put the committee right with reference to 
the previous report, and also to express the view taken by the commit- 
tee of the document now presented. We imderstood, when we were 
called together, that it was the desire of the Council that some change 
should be made ; and we have acted under that impression. Por aught 
that I know, every individual of us would have been willing to accept 
the declaration reported by the preliminary committee. I certainly, for 
one, was entirely ready to receive it. We acted rather as the servants 
of the Council in preparing this report. I can assure you that we did 
not act to please ourselves. I presume that not a single individual of 
the committee would say that the document is such a one as he for him- 
self would have prepared. But as the servants of the Council, we de- 
sired to construct a document which would meet the varying views of 
the representatives of 2,500 or 3,000 churches. 'We accordingly abridged 
the historical statement, and changed in form, somewhat, our adherence 
to the old confessions. Then it seemed desirable that we should, in a 



DECLARATION OF FAITH. 353 

more devotional form, — in the form of a confession, — express the com- 
mon faith we held in all our churches, at a time when the common foun- 
dations of all Christian faith were openly assailed ^d secretly under- 
mined in all our communities. 

With reference to this condition of things, which it will not do for us 
to ignore, however much we would like that it should not be, we thought 
it proper that all who believe with us should confess our common faith, 
in a personal God, in a God incarnate, in a Kedeemer, — the great truths 
without which Christianity is nothing, and the church itself can not exist. 
It seemed not only proper, but our bounden duty so to do. It seemed 
desirable to do it in somewhat briefer terms, and in a somewhat different 
manner, from that which was adopted by the preliminary committee. 

Then it seemed desirable to confess our faith concerning the church, — 
which also is one of the great questions of our times, — concerning the 
church, the house of God. There is in all our communities a great 
moral and Christian movement, with which I confess I sympathize, 
toward the restoration of the divided body of Christ. We must recog- 
nize that movement. We, of all the so-called sects, are alone prepared 
to throw ourselves upon it, to guide it, to assert our vantage with respect 
to it. Congregationalism, with all the rigor of its Calvinism, with all 
the energy of its theology, with all the directness and manliness of its 
piety, is yet the only denomination which is truly in its principles unsec- 
tarian. So was it from the beginning. The five dissenting brothers, — 
among whom were those two conspicuous stars, John Owen and Thomas 
Goodwin, — the five dissenting brothers in the Westminster Assembly, 
were set apart, among the rest, as asserting this great truth. We are 
true to our traditions, and true to our spirit. Acting in that spirit, we 
have given away to other denominations hundreds upon hundreds, which 
might have been our churches. We might have had hundreds more 
here represented, churches which are now Presbyterian, if it had not 
been that we cared more for the gospel than we cared for a form of pol- 
ity. This it seemed right to assert, to assume for ourselves this vantage 
position, and place it before the world. Our order is apostolic, and 
therefore it is unsectarian. 

In addition it seemed proper for us to assert, in a word or two, the fact 
which is notorious, that the truths, the forms in which we have held 
Christianity, Calvinism, has been eminently favorable to the reformation 
of men. The Puritans, who pre-eminently were Congregationalists, have 
held Christian truth in all possible applications to reform; and that is one 
of our peculiarities. 

These are the special points which you will find expanded in this dec- 
laration. It seemed desirable, as this declaration will be looked at with 
great interest, that in language which could be understood, which though 
condensed might be followed, we should express our faith in these vari- 
ous aspects; our faith as Calvinists, our faith as unsectarian, and our 
faith as reforming Puritans. 

Kev. Prof Lawrence, of Connecticut. I stand in a peculiar relation 
to the motion now before the Council, inasmuch as my hand was in the 

23 



354 DECLARATION OF FAITH. 

formation of the first report made to this body, and also of the second. 
I am rather a father to both. They are my children, and I am ready to 
recognize that relation. I do not regard them exactly in the light of 
Esau and Jacob, and yet I have a decided preference for the younger. I 
am not very new-school in my theology, yet I prefer this because it is 
the newest, as well as because I think it is the best. It propounds some 
of the modern issues of the times more distinctly, more livingly, and, I 
am persuaded, more satisfactorily to the body, and to the whole denomi- 
nation. I like both the reports on this ground, because there was the 
old and the new, and because they were combined in one, having this 
attribute of our holy Scriptures, an Old Testament and a New Testa- 
ment. It should be remembered that our fathers have fought the great 
battles of truth and freedom on the basis of the old. Our distinctive de- 
nomination under Calvin obtained deliverance in Geneva. Cromwell and 
the Independents of Old England fought against the Koyalists upon this 
ground, and conquered. Edwards, in the last century, and Hopkins and 
Bellamy, " fought it out on this line " to victory. In the opening of this 
century, Morse and Worcester and Woods and Stuart and Beecher 
fought Unitarianism and conquered, as we believe, though the victory is 
claimed on the other side, and we allow them the victory. Here then 
in this Council, after one hundred and fifty years and a little more, we 
resume our standing upon this time-honored ground upon which our 
fathers have stood. 

Then I like the new, because we have defined clearly our position as a 
denomination. We step upon the high platform of faith with the other 
denominations, and we invite them to a unity of faith against Romanism, 
Heathenism, and all other isms that assail our common foundation. I 
like both the old and the new. I like both my children, the elder and the 
younger; but I like the younger better, and I hope this Council will 
adopt it and make it its own, and that the denomination will adopt it and 
make it its own. 

Eev. Mr. Balkam, of Maine, withdrew his motion to amend, 
and the question recurred upon the adoption of the report read 
by Eev. Mr. Fiske. 

Rev. Dr. Leavitt, of New York. I move as an amendment to this 
document, to strike out from the third paragraph the words " which is 
commonly known among us as Calvinism," &c. I make this motion, 
not because I am not a Calvinist, as the word is generally understood, 
for I am so, and have always been so. I am so firmly a Calvinist that I 
have never been afraid that the system which is called Calvinism could 
not stand alone and take care of itself without being continually dinned 
into people's ears under the name of Calvinism. The historical prelimi- 
nary statement need not be altered, because it is historically true that 
our fathers did accept those confessions of faith in substance of doctrine. 
It is also true that they have always adhered to those systems of faith 
in substance of doctrine. But by allowing the denomination to be char- 



DECLARATION OF FAITH. 855 

acterized hj adhesion to those confessions of faith, we have lost the coun- 
try which was once ours. 

Those systems of faith we do not hold as systems. As systems they 
were devised and formed for organized churches, not for free churches 
like ours. As systems they are characterized by qualities, and have 
been the cause of consequences which are injurious, which are deleteri- 
ous to our well being as a body of Christian churches. As long as you 
persist in calling yourselves in this way; characterizing yourselves as 
Calvinists, which you are not in the sense in which the word is under- 
stood by those outside of ourselves, so long you have the whole of that 
system of faith continually thrown in your teeth, and brought up for 
your destruction. While this is true, — while we have seen our congre- 
gations melting away from under us by the use which has been made of 
these ancient, worn-out, obsolete confessions, — it is also true that the sys- 
tem of doctrines which you teach, and hold, and preach, has made itself 
felt, is almost openly adopted, is certainly realized in the inmost convic- 
tions of large bodies of those who consider themselves bound by their 
position to reject the name of Calvinism. 

I am familiar with ministers and members of Methodist Churches, and 
I say they hold this system of doctrine, the greater part of -it, as tena- 
ciously and as intelligently as we do ourselves, with the only exception of 
some technical terms, and the name of Calvinism. If we are to bring 
them to the test of Calvinism, they can not come to us without a greater 
strain than is naturally to be expected from poor human nature. I have 
known instances where able men, and better preachers than the average 
of us have been deterred from accepting invitations to become the pas- 
tors of our churches, simply by the dread of the scrutiny and screwing 
to which they might be subjected by an examining council to see wheth- 
er they were Calvinists or not. 

Eev. Dr. Patton", of Illinois. I wish to say a word in support of that 
motion, not upon the ground upon which it was made by our brother, but 
upon the ground that our Lord Jesus told us to call no man father. 

A MESIBER. Master. 

Dr. Patton. Master and father both. I consider it a great blessing 
that I was not born in the Lutheran denomination, to bear all my life 
long a man's name in connection with my religion. I consider it a haj)- 
py thing that the Congregationalists, although we hold the substance of 
his doctrines, do not bear the name of Calvin. I think we ought to avoid 
falling into that snare ; and while we retain the acknowledgment of the 
doctrines, we should strike out the human name. 

Eev. Dr. Duttok, of Connecticut. I give my hearty concurrence to 
the two brethren who have just spoken. It is time that we ceased to call 
ourselves by any human name. Why not call ourselves Edwardians as 
well as Calvinists. We propose to take the Bible as our rule of faith, in- 
stead of Calvin. It is customary with other sects to put horns and hoofs 
upon Calvinism; and if we adopt the name, they put the horns and hoofs 
upon us and veritably believe they belong to us. 

Eev. Dr. Sturteyant, of Illinois. I am not prepared to vote for this 



356 DECLARATION OF FAITH, 

document unamended; but I do not know that I can find any considerable 
number to sympathize with my views. I agree with Dr. Bacon entirely 
that we wish to propagate all over our country and the world a great, 
unique, definite system. I have no misunderstanding on that point at all; 
and I testify for all my western brethren that they think so too. K Dr. 
Bacon or any other man supposes that there is any lukewarmness on 
that subject at the West, he is simply mistaken. 

What I want is, that if we are to have any declaration of doctrine at 
all, — and I have pretty nearly come to the conclusion that we ought to 
have, although I doubted it very much at the outset, — I want a declara- 
tion of doctrine that goes the whole length of stating, in original living 
f words of our own, in this year of grace 1865, what our view of that sys- 
\ tern is. If those brethren who have reported this document will take the 
language back again, and put their heads, and their hearts, and their 
prayers at work for six months, and draw up for us such a document, I 
will come from my home to another meeting of this Council, and bear 
my own expenses, that we may have such a document as will actually 
express the faith of these churches here and now, with no reference 
whatever to any past formula, that shall be the Boston Confession, if 
you please; that shall be the sentiment of the Congregational churches 
in the year 1865, in words of their own choosing. 

One word more. I am sorry for these references to the old standards. 
I do not know how many will agree with me there. I will tell you why 
I am sorry. There is language in every one of those old standards 
which not a man upon this floor receives. 

A MEMBER. " Substance of doctrine." 

Eev. Dr. Sturtevant. I wish to be excused from that phrase when 
I make a confession of faith. I want a confession of faith to express what I 
mean ; and it will be hard work for me to vote for it if I know there is 
phraseology in it which I do not mean. In all my controversies with 
the Presbyterian Church, they insisted upon my subscribing their for- 
mula for substance of doctrine. I wanted to be simply an honest man ; 
and I want these brethren to be simply honest men, and to accept a con- 
fession of faith which every one of them does in his heart and soul be- 
lieve, without any phraseology or statements in it which we could wish 
were away, with no expression to be a stumbling-block to every profes- 
sor of theology and to every man in this house. I have sat here and 
doubted and doubted whether to make this speech or not; but I have 
made it, and here I stand. 

Eev. Dr. Barstow, of Kew Hampshire. I hope we all hold to the 
old formula of the Westminster Assembly's Catechism, and the Savoy 
Confession of Faith, and I hope every member will be ready to reaffirm 
it. 

Several members. Ko, no. 

Dr. Barstow continuing. The same phraseology our fathers used in 
1648. We say we believe for substance of doctrine the confession of the 
Westminster Assembly. I stand upon that ground now, and I hope the 
brethren of this body will. 



DECLARATION OF FAITH. 357 

Kev. Prof. Paek, of Massachusetts, said : I do not feel able to say a 
word this afternoon, in consequence of my having been kept in a cellar ^ 
for two or three days [Laughter], and being now quite feeble in health. 
But, sir, we are Calvinists, mainly, essentially, in all the essentials of 
our faith: and the man who, having pursued a three years' course of 
study, — having studied the Bible in the original languages, — is not a 
Calvinist, is not a respectable man. I have a high respect for this Council. 
I have a great reverence for this Council; and although I have been 'm- 
mured in a cellar for so long a time, yet when I have seen membeis of 
this Council, I have seen that they were intelligent and able men, — such 
men as are very seldom assembled in any one body. But I should alter 
my opinion of it at once and totally, if it should discard the name of Cal- 
vinists. I confess I should be utterly and perfectly ashamed to have this 
amendment ^Dass. I should be ashamed to see it published in the news- 
papers. We should be a hissing and a by-word among the people ; be- 
cause we are such in substance of doctrine, and we avow ourselves to be 
such in the main and in the essentials. We use these expressions very 
freftjuently. And if we can not go before the world, and say we are such, 
then I think we have misunderstood the nature and the spirit of this 
great system. This is an historical name; and I would not be cut off 
from our historical connection with the great fathers of our churches. I 
hope by all means that this amendment will not pass this afternoon at 
this late hour. If the brethren insist upon considering it further, I hope 
that the subject will be deferred until to-morrow. 

Rev. Mr. Allen, of Massachusetts, rose to speak, desiring to 
occupy but one minute. 

The hour of 5 o'clock having arrived, the Moderator stated 
that it would not be in order. 

On motion, the order was suspended to allow Rev. Mr. Allen 
two minutes. 

Eev. Mr. Allen stated, and appealed to Professors Park, Lawrence, 
and others, to sustain him, that the doctrine of the imputation of Adam's 
sin was not to be found in Calvin's writings. He believed in total cor- 
ruption, but not in imputation. Those who believed in imputation,- 
therefore, were not Calvinists. 

The question being taken upon the amendment, upon divis- 
ion, there was manifestly a large majority opposed to it, and it 
was declared rejected without a count. 

Rev. Mr. Ferrin, of Vermont, moved to lay the report upon 
the table. 

The motion was rejected. 

1 The basement of Mount Vemon Church, in attendance upon committees. 



358 DECLARATION OF FAITH. 

Rev. Dr. Eddy, of Massachusetts, moved to adjourn. 

The motion was rejected. 

Eev. Mr. Bjington, of Vermont, raised the question of order, 
that the Council must be declared adjourned, unless this order 
was further suspended, without a motion. 

The Moderator ruled that the Convention had just, by its 
vote, declared otherwise. 

Eev. Dr. Eddy, of Massachusetts. I protest against having a confes- 
sion of faith imposed upon us. 

A member moved to postpone the further consideration of the 
report until the next session. 

The motion was rejected. 

Rev. Mr. Quint, of Massachusetts, moved to suspend the 
order fixing the hour for adjournment until further vote. 

Rev. Mr. Balkam raised the point of order, that even that 
motion was out of order after 5 o'clock. 

The point of order was overruled by the Moderator. 

The motion to suspend was agreed to. 

Rev. Dr. Leavitt, of New York, moved to amend the report 
by inserting after the word " above-named," in the third para- 
graph, the words, " Doctrinal Articles of the Church of England." 

Eev. Dr. Wodcott. I should deprecate exceedingly pressing this 
matter to-night to a decision of the Council. I move that we hear some 
notices from the Business Committee, and then adjourn. 

Rev. Mr. Dexter, of Massachusetts, suggested as a modifica- 
tion of the motion, that it be to meet to-morrow morning, at 
11 o'clock, on Burial Hill, in Plymouth, unless it be rainy, in 
which case, to meet in Rev. Dr. Kirk's Church. 

Rev. Mr. Wolcott accepted the modification, and the motion 
as modified was agreed to. 

Rev. Mr. Quint, of the Business Committee, introduced vari- 
ous papers, which were appropriately referred ; as follows : — 

(1.) Whereas, The use of tobacco is a great and growing evil in our 
land, and large treasures are wasted in forming and cherishing a habit 
that is not only expensive but highly injurious ; therefore 

Besolved, That this Council do, in the most solemn and decided man- 
ner, raise a voice of warning against this evil, and exhort our churches 
and our people everywhere to set their faces like a flint against it, that 



SABBATH. CHURCH IN BALTIMORE. 359 

our precious youth may be saved from its baneful influence, and the fair- 
est portion of our earthly heritage from foul desecration. 

Accepted, and referred to the committee on Temperance. 

(2.) Besolved, That we recompiend to all the churches represented in 

this Council the observance of the day of as a day of special 

fasting and prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the land, 
to crown with success the results reached by this body; and that we 
send a brief address to those churches, to be laid before them on that 
occasion. 

Accepted, and reference ordered to a special committee to be 
appointed. 

(3.) Whereas, Our Pilgrim Fathers regarded the strict observance of 
the Sabbath as a duty they owed to God, and also as indispensable to the 
formation of a free Christian repubhc ; and 

Wliereas, The desecration of the Sabbath is proverbial, both by the 
nation and by individuals, and thereby one of the fundamental principles 
on which our fathers reared this mighty nation is greatly imperiled, and 
the God who ordained the Sabbath dishonored: therefore 

Besolved, That we as a Council greatly deplore the general desecra- 
tion of the Sabbath in, our beloved land, and feel called upon to use all 
proper efforts, in the pulpit and by the pew, by prayer, and if necessary 
by our petitions to Congress, to restore to the nation the sanctity of the 
Christian Sabbath, once so dear to our fathers. 

Reference ordered to the committee on the " Declaration of 
Faith." 

(4.) Whereas, This Council is informed that a band of Christians in 
Baltimore, many of whom are known to have been first among the fore- 
most in the great movements in Maryland during the last four years for 
liberty and the Union, have recently been organized into a Congrega- 
tional Church; and 

Whei^eas, These representatives of the ]!!^ew England polity and spirit 
have with great self-sacrifice devoted themselves and their property to 
the enterprise of building, upon a commanding hight in that city a 
church edifice worthy of their cause, and of gathering from the large 
number of intelhgent and liberty-loving citizens of that emancipated me- 
tropolis a vigorous and influential church; and 

Wliereas, "We have reason to beheve that the success of one such en- 
terprise would lead to the early estabhshment of other strong churches in 
Baltimore, and that such a church, standing in the gateway of the South, 
would insure the organization of many more in the regions beyond, and 
would itself become a fight and a power over the whole land: therefore 

Besolved, That this National Council commend this initial enterprise 
at the South to the sympathy and most liberal aid of our whole denom- 



360 REPORT OF FINANCE COMMITTEE. 

ination, as one of the highest importance to our country, to the interests 
of liberty, and to the cause of Christ. 

Accepted, and referred to the committee on the Evangeliza- 
tion of the West and South. 

(5.) Besolvedj That it is inexpedient and improper that pastors of Con- 
gregational churches should assume, or retain, membership in another 
denomination. 

Accepted, and referred to the committee on Church Polity. 

(6.) Besolved, That a committee be raised to devise ways and means 
to raise the $750,000 voted as expedient for national evangelization. 

Reference ordered to a special committee to be appointed. . 

(7.) Besolved, That this Council will adjourn sine die on Saturday 
next, at 12, m. 

Reference ordered to Business Committee. 

(8.) WJiereas, The expeditious securing of the $750,000 which our 
churches have been recommended to raise is of the hrst importance to 
our land and the Church; and 

Whereas, An equitable apportionment of this sum among the churches 
of our several States, according to their several ability, would greatly 
facilitate the obtaining of the entire sum: 

Besolved, That a committee be appointed to make as equitable an ap- 
portionment as possible of the sum to be raised, among the different 
States, and in due time to inform the churches of each State what por- 
tion of the fund it properly belongs to them to furnish. 

Accepted, and reference ordered to the special committee on 
Ways and Means of obtaining the $750,000 fund, previously 
ordered. 

The special committee to whom was referred the report of the 
Finance Committee reported by resolutions, as follows : 

Whereas, The failure of a large number of churches to respond to the 
call made by the preliminary meeting, for contributions to meet the ex- 
penses of this Council, has resulted in a lack of means to meet the just 
demands upon our treasury: therefore 

Besolved, That the Finance Committee be authorized to call upon the 
more wealthy of those churches which failed to make contribution, for a 
sum not less than one thousand dollars to meet such deficit; and that 
said committee be directed to pay over any balance which shall remain 
in their hands, after discharging all just claims against this Council, into 
the hands of the Congregational Union. 



DECLARATION OF FAITH. 361 

Besolved, That the delegates to this Council, representing the churches 
to which this call shall be addressed, be requested to aid the committee 
in their collections. 

Accepted and adopted. 

After singing the Doxology, the Council adjourned, at half 
past five o'clock, P. M. 



EIGHTH DAY, THUKSDAT, JUKE 22. 

The Council met on Burial Hill, Plymouth, on the spot 
where the first meeting-house of the Pilgrims stood, at 11^ 
o'clock. Assistant Moderator Hammond presiding. 

On motion, the reading of the minutes of yesterday was 
omitted. 

Eev. Mr. Quint, of Massachusetts. I have been directed by the Busi- 
ness Committee to read a paper which is in their hands. The idea was en- 
tertained that it might possibly meet the views of all present. If it did, 
well; if it did not, it could be quietly dropped. The paper is as follows: 

DECLARATION OF FAITH. 

Standing by the rock where the Pilgrims set foot upon these shores, 
upon the spot where they worshiped G-od, and among the graves of the 
early generations, we, Elders and Messengers of the Congregational 
Churches of the United States, in National Council assembled, hke them 
acknowledging no rule of faith but the word of God, do now reiterate 
our adherence to the faith and order of the Apostolic and Primitive 
Churches as held by our fathers, and as substantially embodied in the 
Confessions and Platforms which our Synods of 1648 and 1680 set forth 
or reaflflrmed. We declare that the experience of the nearly two and a 
half centuries which have elapsed since the memorable day when our 
sires founded here a Christian commonwealth, with all the development 
of new forms of error since their times, have only deepened our confl-, 
dence in the faith and polity of these fathers. We bless the God of our 
fathers for the inheritance of these doctrines, which have been trans- 
mitted to us, their children. We invoke the help of the Divine Re- 
deemer, that, through the presence of the promised Comforter, he will 
enable us to transmit them in purity to our children. 

In the times that are before us as a nation, times at once of duty and 
of danger, we rest all our hope in the gospel of the Son of God. It 
was the grand peculiarity of our Puritan Fathers that they held this 
gospel not merely as the ground of their personal salvation, but as de- 
claring the worth of man by the incarnation and sacrifice of the Son of 



362 DECLARATION OF FAITH. 

God, and therefore applied its principles to* elevate society, to regulate 
education, to civilize humanity, to purify law, to reform the Church and 
the State, to assert and to defend liberty ; in short, to mold and redeem, 
by its all-transforming energy, everything that belongs to man in his in- 
dividual and social relations. 

It was the faith of our fathers that gave us this free land in which we 
dwell. It is by this faith only that we can transmit it to our children a 
free and happy, because a Christian, commonwealth. 

We hold it to be a distinctive excellence of our Congregational sys- 
tem that it exalts that which is more, above that which is less, important, 
and, by the simplicity of its organization, facilitates, in communities 
where the population is limited, the union of all true believers in one 
Christian Church; and that the division of such communities into sev- 
eral weak and jealous societies, holding the same common faith, is a sin 
against the unity of the body of Christ, and at once the shame and 
scandal of Christendom. [Inserted on second reading.] 

We rejoice that, through the influence of our free system of apostolic 
order, we can hold fellowship with all who acknowledge Christ, and act 
efficiently in the work of restoring unity to the divided Church, and of 
bringing back harmony and peace among all " who love our Lord Jesus 
Christ in sincerity." 

But recognizing the unity of the Church of Christ in aU the world, 
and knowing that we are but one branch of Christ's people, while adher- 
ing to our own peculiar faith and order, we extend to all believers the 
hand of Christian fellowship upon the basis of those fundamental truths 
in which all Christians may agree. With them, we confess our faith in 
God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the only living and true 
God; in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word, who is exalted to be our Ee- 
deemer and King; and in the Holy Comforter, who is present in the 
Church to regenerate and sanctify the soul. 

With the whole Church, we confess the common sinfulness and ruin of 
our race, and acknowledge that it is only through the work accomplished 
by the life and expiatory death of Christ that we are justified before 
God, and receive the remission of sins; and that it is through the pres- 
ence and grace of the Holy Comforter alone that we hope to be deliv- 
ered from the power of sin, and to be perfected in holiness. 

We believe, also, in an organized and visible Church, in the ministry of 
the Word, in the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, in the 
resurrection of the body, and in the final judgment, the issues of which 
are eternal life and everlasting punishment. 

We receive these truths on the testimony of God, given originally 
through prophets and apostles, and in the life, the miracles, the death, 
the resurrection, of his Son, our divine Kedeemer, — a testimony pre- 
served for the Church in the Scriptures of the Old and ]^ew Testaments, 
which were composed by holy men as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost. 

Affirming now our belief that those who thus hold " one faith, one 
Lord, one baptism," together constitute the one catholic Church, the sev- 



DECLARATION OF FAITH. 363 

eral houseliolds of which, though called by different names, are the one 
body of Christ, and that these members of his body are sacredly bound 
to keep the " unity of the spirit in the bond of peace," we declare that 
we will co-operate with all who hold these truths. With them, we will 
carry the gospel into every part of this land; and with them we will go 
" into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." 

May He to whom " all power is given in heaven and earth " fulfill the 
promise which is all our hope: " Lo, I am with you alway, even to the 
end of the world." Amen. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. I want to make a suggestion, which 
I think will meet the entire approval of the Council. 

When we adjourned last evening, I felt that a providence of God had 
intervened to prevent the adoption, at that time and place, of the 
Declaration of Faith that was then before us. I felt that on this conse- 
crated spot, to us " the holiest spot of all the earth," we should become, 
all of us, more deeply and fervently conscious of our relation to the past, 
and of our relation to the boundless continent, and to the boundless 
future, than we could be even there, and that there was a fitness in our 
here uniting in giving our testimony to the faith and to the order 
which our Pilgrim Fathers brought with them when they came to this 
spot and laid the foundations of empire, in their humility, and their un- 
consciousness of the grandeur of their destiny. I wish to suggest then, 
Mr. Moderator, that in adopting this paper which has now been laid 
before us, we are to be understood as adopting it according to the old 
forms, the old use of language, substantially ; adopting it, not as if every 
one of us was going to swear by those ipsissima verba, but adopting it in 
its essence, in its meaning, and in its scope. Then, if it be«fit, we may 
adopt the other also, — although I do not perceive any deviation in this 
from the other; — and then, for the sake of perfecting the document, 
grammatically, rhetorically, and in respect of logical arrangement, — 
although I think this is an improvement upon the first one in that re- 
gard, — it may be referred to a large and representative committee, who, 
by a sub-committee of their own appointment, shall make it as perfect 
as possible, in all respects, and shall then certify to the world, in giving 
it out, that this is the Declaration of Faith which was made on this 
sacred spot, by this Council. I believe the suggestion is understood, and 
trust it will receive the unanimous approval of the whole Council here 
assembled. 

Rev. Mr. Allen, of Massachusetts. In the name of our fathers, I pro- 
test, from this consecrated hill, against that Declaration. It is sectarian. 

The Moderator. Any protest against our action may be filed with 
the Secretary, and put upon the record in the proper way. 

Dea. Stoddard, of Massachusetts. I hope the Declaration will be 
adopted, in accordance with the suggestion of Dr. Bacon. 

Rev. Prof. Porter, of Connecticut. I have no very special objection 
to most of the paper which has been read, which is taken, in substance, 
from the document that was before us yesterday ; but it seems to me 



364 DECLARATION OF FAITH. 

scarcely in keeping with the traditions concerning order which we haVe 
received from our fathers, that a paper should be presented under cir- 
cumstances like these, in which all debate must be necessarily excluded, 
in order to carry a point which, perhaps, on deliberation, might be agree- 
able to us all. I noticed, still further, the omission of what I deem to 
be an important paragraph in the paper reported by the committee, 
and that is a paragraph which is near the bottom of the second page, 
where we assert the value of our system in promoting what I consider 
a very great movement at the present time, — the unity of the Church. 
I think that paragraph ought to be retained; and, if it is, I have no 
objection to the paper. 

Eev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. * My intention was to move that the 
substance of the paper which was before us last evening, and of that 
which has now been read, be adopted, and that the two papers be referred 
to a committee, to be perfected. 

Dr. Dutton moved that the paragraph referred to by Prof. 
Porter be incorporated in the paper which had been read by 
Mr. Quint ; but the Moderator ruled that the motion was un- 
necessary, as Dr. Bacon's motion included the substance of 
both papers. 

Kev. Dr. Eddy, of Massachusetts. I felt yesterday that we were 
crowded to a vote ; I felt the tyranny of a majority. I feel the impropriety 
of this proceeding this morning; but, under all the circumstances, I feel con- 
strained, in conscience, all things considered, to second the motion which 
has been made, and hope we shall adopt the substance of these papers. 

Rev. Mr. -Cochran, of Iowa. I have not had a word to say in the 
Council on any of these questions. I supposed, when we separated last 
evening, that this matter was laid over until Friday, and I think that 
was the general impression. I have not heard this paper, and a number 
did not get here in time to hear it read; and I desire to hear it before I 
vote upon it. 

Mr. Quint again read the paper, and at its conclusion, said : 

The idea in preparing this document was, honestly and heartily to en- 
deavor to avoid the points on which we seemed to split yesterday. I, for 
one, think we are all of one heart, but there may be some difterences of 
expression. JS'ow, this paper has been prepared to embody, briefly, the es- 
sential parts of yesterday's paper, with certain new parts in a new frame- 
work, and thus to avoid, if possible, any difficulty or conflict. I think it will 
not be best — although I do not care to argue the matter — to adopt the 
two papers, when this was intended to avoid some difficulties growing 
out of the other. It seems to me that it would be better, on several 
' accounts, to adopt only one paper, and that, this paper. Further than that, 
I would say that I am not ready to give to any committee, which shall sit 
after this Council adjourns, power to promulgate any creed they please. 



DECLARATION OF FAITH. 365 

[Eight!] I am ready to give a committee the privilege of making such 
verbal alterations as may be necessary, which will not affect the sense, or 
interfere with the feelings or prejudices of other persons, — nothing fur- 
ther than that; but even that should be reported for the action of the 
Council. I would also have the paragraph referred to by Prof Porter 
inserted, for I think it extremely valuable, and am sorry it was inad- 
vertently omitted, and, if permitted, will insert it. 

I move to amend the motion before us, so that it read that the Coun- 
cil adopt the paper now read; and that a committee be appointed to 
suggest such verbal alterations, not affecting the sense, as may seem 
needful. 

Rev. Dr. BACOisr. I accept his amendment; that is, that we now 
adopt the paper which has been read, including that paragraph, with the 
understanding that the whole paper is to be referred to a committee of 
revision, to perfect the diction, and to report to this body before its final 
adjournment. 

The question was then put, and the motion adopted with 
but two dissenting voices. 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Dexter, of Massachusetts, it was — 

Voted, That the first business to-morrow morning be the election, by a 
ballot, of a committee, consisting of one from each State represented, to 
whom the paper just adopted shall be referred for revision. 

Rev. Dr. Daggett, of New York, then addressed the 
Throne of Grace in a fervent and most impressive manner, 
concluding with the Lord's Prayer, in which the members of 
the Council audibly joined. 

Edward S. Tobey, Esq., of Massachusetts, then made some 
statements in regard to the arrangements for the remainder of 
the day, after which, it was, on motion. 

Voted, That when the Council adjourn, it be to meet at the Mt. Yer- 
non Church, Boston, at 9 o'clock, to-morrow morning. 

The Doxoldgy " Praise God from whom all blessings flow," 
was then sung, and the Council adjourned. 

After the adjournment, the members of the Council proceed- 
ed, in a body, to Forefathers' Rock, and to Pilgrim Hall, to 
inspect the various memorials of the Pilgrims there sacredly 
preserved. They were then hospitably entertained according to 
arrangements by the preliminary committee, and the collation 
was followed by addresses. 



366 ADDRESSES AT THE TABLE. 

ADDEESSES AT THE TABLE.* 

ADDEESS OF REV. A, L. STONE, D. D. 

Fathers and Brethren of the Council^ — The Committee of Arrange- 
ments have offered you this excursion not simply as a pleasant railroad 
trip, — not simply as a day of rest and recreation amidst the arduous 
and weighty cares of your protracted session, nor merely as a pleasant 
visit to one of our fair New England towns, with its quiet bay and its 
green islands, but with a deejDer intent and purpose regarding the fit- 
ness of things. It was fitting, we thought, that the apostles and confes- 
sors of our faith and order, — gathering from every part of the land to 
look upon one another's faces, take one another by the hand, and 
strengthen one another to enter in and possess that magnificent future 
of our heritage for God and the old Puritans, — should have their reunion 
in the old Cradle of the Puritan city, the metropolis of the common- 
wealth and of IN"ew England. And now it is fitting, in the second place, 
that we, children of the Pilgrims, tracing back the steps of our forefa- 
thers with love and veneration, should not suffer our feet to pause until 
they come quite to the memorable Bay and to Eorefathers' Kock. This 
is the earlier and the holier shrine. To have come so near and not 
to have reached it, not to have touched it, not to have clustered around 
it, to renew our vows of everlasting fealty to our religious faith, in its 
doctrines, in its order, in its memories, in its inspirations, would have 
been such a mistake and blunder as history — the history that writes the 
doings of these days that we are freighting so deeply for the future, — 
would have deemed incredible. Now, it will be regarded as one of the 
grand reminiscences of this hour, as congruous and chiming in well with 
the spirit, and calling, and work, of this Council, that we came hither 
that we might, by contact with the electric forces of this scene, thrilling 
through every mind and soul, put ourselves into closer communion with the 
fathers and their ever-fiving principles. It is well that we follow the stream 
back to its fountain, that we may drink again at the ancient spring 
fresh and pure, — drink, every man of us, until our souls overflow, — 
drink until we ourselves become channels, brimming full, in which the 
external and religious life of the past, cherished in our hearts, shall flow 
forth to all the saints of the common family. 

Oh, how good it is to stand on Plymouth Kock once more! — to feel 
something solid beneath our feet! Amid all the fluctuations of the pres- 
ent, amid the tossing billows of that storm of war, and the agftations 
that succeed, which show that the great sea is not quiet yet, to find that 
our feet are on the immovable granite, where nations, ages may build, 
and no flood can overflow ! [Applause.] 

It is not mine, I will not ask that it shall be mine, to nanae even one 
element of that firm-supporting faith, on which, as on an everlasting 
rock, our fathers planted their feet, and on which our feet have come to 

1 Though not a part of the official proceedings, the exercises after the collation are 
recorded, on account of their peculiar interest. 



ADDRESSES AT THE TABLE. 867 

be planted too ; for we are sons of those sires by more than natural de- 
scent; we are one with them by more than the bond of a common faith, 
though that bond be so mighty, so indissoluble. We are one with them 
by a common experience now. What they saw we have seen, and the 
more clearly; what they heard, we have heard, and the more audibly. 
We have seen the mighty hand' of God in our personal story; we have 
heard his voice near to us again, here, in the old Puritan commonwealth. 
Nay, more: in all the land, men walk and talk and sit and commune 
with a present, living God, as our fathers walked and talked and sat and 
communed with him. God is nearer from the bending heavens to all the 
children ot the Puritans to-day than ever since the old Puritan days. 
We are at one with the fathers by that common and blessed experience. 
Our souls will keep fresher for our visit to this scene; and it will grave 
every line of that earlier scene deeper into mind and heart and memory. 

In most of the pictures, you know, that artists have given us of that 
earlier scene, they drew largely upon the imagination. Art steered the 
Mayflower at first into this harbor, and anchored her in the background ; 
art rowed a boat-load of living, breathing men, women, and children, ar- 
rayed in festal attire, to the sacred Bock; art grouped the wild Indian, 
in picturesque costume, in the background of the wood. But history 
tells the story diiferently, — that the Mayflower found her first anchor- 
age in Provincetown Bay, on the eleventh of November; and three ex- 
peditions, you know, were sent out from the Mayflower, the third of 
which came to this point. One, on foot, moved as far as Wellfleet; an- 
other, by boat, entered Pamet Bay, Truro; then the shallop, that bore 
the sacred seed of a grand harvest, — the shallop came in on Thursday 
night: the first keel that ever parted these waves, over which only the 
light canoe had skimmed, and the wild fowl of the ocean. It came, not 
at first to this rock, but to that green island across the bay, — Clark's 
Island. There the Pilgrims passed Priday and Saturday (perhaps in 
repairing their boat; for they came in, in a fierce north-easter, their rud- 
der gone, and the boat steered with difficulty by two oars, their mast 
overboard, in three pieces), and there they kept the sacred Sabbath; 
and, on Monday morning, the 11th of December, 1620, — the 11th, old 
style, the 21st, new style, — that shallop came to the rock and unloaded 
its freight of precious life thereupon, and the continent was ours. [Loud 
applause.] 

I am trespassing upon a rule which I shall shortly impose upon all 
who follow me [Laughter], — to be very brief, and to remember all who 
are to come after them. But the welcomes of this occasion will not be 
made complete until you have heard, on behalf of the people of this 
town, whose pleasant faces and gala attire and thronged streets and 
winning smiles, are one, and not the least memorable, part of our wel- 
come [Applause], — until you have heard, on behalf of this town and on 
behalf of the Pilgrim Society, doubly represented here by a gentleman 
to whom I shall presently refer, and by this gentleman [Dr. Timothy 
Gordon], whom I shall ask to complete my welcome, in the name of 
the town. From these gentlemen you will have other and perhaps 



368 ADDRESSES AT THE TABLE. 

warmer words of welcome. Will you listen to Dr. G-ordon, of Plym- 
outh, a member of the Pilgrim Society, and the gentleman at whose 
instance Pilgrim Hall was opened to us to-day, and to whose active in- 
strumentality so much that is pleasant in this scene is due? 

REMAEKS OF DR. TIMOTHY GORDON, OF PLYMOUTH 

Fellow-citizens and Friends, — I rise simply to show you my face, for 
I can have no expectation of interesting you, after the words of elo- 
quence and beauty to which you have just listened. I will merely say, 
that the citizens of Plymouth bid you welcome, and that the Pilgrim So- 
ciety, also, bid you welcome, thrice welcome to these shores whereon our 
Pilgrim Fathers first set their feet. I trust that what you have seen to- 
day will make such an impression upon your minds that you will be dis- 
posed to come again and to send your children and children's children 
to view the same spectacle which you have seen on the shore of Plym- 
outh. [Applause.] 

Kev. Dr. Stone. This salutation is from the citizens of Plymouth, 
and, in part from the Pilgrim Society. The president-elect of that 
society is present, and being a very modest man, as all Bostonians are 
[Great merriment], he is afraid I am about to introduce him to the au- 
dience ; and unless I take him by the hand, and lead him to the chair 
[" suiting the action to the word"], I have no expectation of overcoming 
that difficulty, so that he can address you. I will whisper to you 
softly, the name of Edward S. Tobey, Esq., President-elect of the Pilgrim 
Society. 

REMARKS OF HON. EDWARD S. TOBEY, 

Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen of the Congregational Council, and 
Ladies and Gentlemen, — I am highly gratified, in the first place, at the 
exceedingly proper estimate which the distinguished chairman has 
formed of your speaker [Laughter] ; but I am more than vexed at the 
thought that he expects me to make complete what he was pleased to 
consider incomplete. I beg leave to differ from him. I consider his 
speech so complete, that but little can be expected from me. And yet, 
ladies and gentlemen I should feel that I had hardly performed the duty 
which you had a right to expect, even from a president-eZeci of the Pil- 
grim Society, should I fail to add my most cordial welcome in behalf 
of that time-honored institution represented in every part of our land. 
I have the privilege of saying to you, that, not only in the name of that 
association, but in the name of the people of this town, I bid you a most 
cordial welcome to this sacred spot. And yet, in doing this, we do not 
wish to have it understood that we have any exclusive rights in this spot, 
either as the Pilgrim Society or as the people of Plymouth. We shall 
not consent that one fragment of that rock shall be taken from this place, 
but we shall ask you, all of you, to draw fresh inspiration from that 
consecrated spot, and transmit it throughout our land ; and we believe it 
will be transmitted to the end of time. We have heard it said that the 
time is not distant when even our erring sister, South Carolina, will claim 



ADDRESSES AT PLYMOUTH. 369 

a part of Pilgrim Rock. [Applause.] I believe we shall need to transplant 
the principles of Pilgrim Rock, and it should be our chief concern to 
propagate those views throughout our country. 

It is a sublime thought, that we are assembled in this peculiar period 
of our country's history. Perhaps at no time since our fathers first 
planted their feet on that spot, has there been seen a more grand, a more 
expressive representation of all that is valuable or likely to be valuable 
to this nation, than the present occasion. A most singular providence 
of God has ordained that the blood of the chief magistrate of our na- 
tion should be the last shed in sealing the liberties of our land. The last 
drop of blood shed was that of our beloved and revered chief magis- 
trate, Abraham Lincoln ; and it is fitting and proper that we here, at 
this early day, should come to renew our vows of fidelity to the princi- 
ples for which this civil war has been waged, and to pledge ourselves, 
from every portion of our land, to go forth to our respective homes, and 
there, in. every way, to disseminate the true principles of civil and relig- 
ious freedom. 

But, ladies and gentlemen, I do not feel at liberty to enlarge on this 
topic. We have been very kindly admonished by the chairman, by the 
very lengthy speech he made himself, that we are not to talk long, 
[Laughter] and I will conclude by simply repeating that the Pilgrim 
Society will gladly have you cherish in your memories this interesting 
occasion as one of the brightest spots of your lives ; and while I feel 
myself the great privilege of extending this welcome to people from the 
remotest parts of our land, — even from Colorado and Nevada, from Ore- 
gon and from California, — I am equally glad to extend the right hand of 
fellowship to those from what we are compelled to call a foreign land, 
but what we had better, perhaps, call our fatherland. The time has 
come when we can welcome to this spot those of our friends who repre- 
sent rehgious liberty on the other side of the water; for, be it remem- 
bered, whatever course may have been pursued by a portion of the peo- 
ple from whom we descended, we have had a vast number of friends, 
who are rejDresented here to-day by those who are ready to extend to us 
the congratulations of that country, and to join hands with us in seek- 
ing to carry forward the great work of Christian civilization the world 
over. 

Rev, Dr. Stone. Thrice over have we had the hand of welcome 
extended to us, and perhaps you would like the privilege of interchang- 
ing greetings with our friends, and saying whether you accept these sal- 
utations. His Excellency, Governor Buckingham, the Moderator of the 
Council, could not be here to-day, and I will ask Colonel Hammond by 
what voice it shall please him to respond to these salutations. 

REMARKS OF ^0N. CHARLES G. HAmiOND, OF ILLINOIS. 

Mr. Chairman^ — The system which we recognize and which we in- 
tend to perpetuate is one of order. Order is its first law; and that says, 
that there is a place for everything, and everything should be in its 
24 



370 ADDRESSES AT PLYMOUTH. 

place. As it was not the place of any to talk of war in the presence of 
Hannibal, so it is not my place to address yon in the presence of my 
colleague; and therefore you will permit me to introduce to you the 
Rev. Dr. Joseph P. Thompson. 

■ REMARKS OF REV. JOSEPH P. THOMPSON, D. D., OF NEW YORK. 

Mr. Chairman, — Should I attempt to express our gratitude and 
admiration for the well-ordered and munificent hospitality which has 
been extended to us from our first assembling as a Council to this hour, 
I should transcend the boundaries of all space and all time; [Laughter] 
for I am to-day the mouthpiece, not only of my own burning, responsive 
heart, but of five hundred hearts and voices, who wish to speak through 
me. [Applause.] It will devolve upon His Excellency, the Governor, 
or, in his absence, I insist that it shall devolve upon my military supe- 
rior, Colonel Hammond, to return the thanks of the Council to you in 
Boston, in Mt, Yernon Church, for the totality of this reception; but I 
wish to-day, in, a few words, to express our thanks to you, sir, the chair- 
man of the Committee of Arrangements [Rev. A. L. Stone], to you, gen- 
tlemen, who have represented the town and the society of the Pilgrims, 
for bringing us to this particular spot. I remember, when I first saw a 
cathedral in England, — I remember when, back of that, I saw the re- 
mains of the old Roman walls, there was an oppressive sense of antiq- 
uity. When I went to Greece, the weight was heavier. When I went 
to Egypt, it was so vast that it disappeared in the infinity of space. I 
walked with Abraham and the patriarchs. Well, sir, when we came up 
to the Old South, I experienced the same feeling. When we went to 
Mt. Yernon Church, though that does not have the same odor of antiq- 
uity, yet we were led back to the old fathers by that earnest, loving 
disciple, who carried us back so far that he only stopped short of origi- 
nal sin. [Laughter.] Then, sir, we were led out to Charlestown, and 
there felt ourselves in sympathy with the early founders of that church. 
And now, to-day, we are brought to the most hallowed and most ancient 
spot, where all our local associations of antiquity merge themselves in 
that grand past that lies beyond the sea, and we feel ourselves linked, on 
this spot, with the holy men of old from across the waters, and, far back, 
with the whole church of God, through all the ages of time. 

Some may have come here — I have been here before — expecting to 
find Pilgrim Rock a dead old fossil rock, or, perhaps, an utterly inor- 
ganic rock. Instead of that, we have found it a most lively St07ie 
[Laughter and applause], and we desire to join ourselves thereunto, and 
to build with this living Stone from this time forward. [Renewed ap- 
plause.] Our friends in me western part of the continent, having rich 
ores of their own, desired to transport this iDolished Stone to build into 
their temple. You refused us that gift ; but noA^ you shall not prevent 
us from carrying back from this spot Pilgrim Rock. We shall carry it 
with all its grand memories, with all its inspiring associatioiis, back to 
the busy marts of commerce in ISTew York and Chicago ; we shall carry 
it across not only the Alleghauies, but the Rocky Mountains. It shall 



/ 



ADDRESSES AT PLYMOUTH. 371 

be planted, with all its living associations and power of truth and grace, 
upon the far shore of the Pacific. Henceforth, Pilgrim Kock is ours; 
Boston is ours. You have nothing hereafter apart from every one of us. 
[Applause.] ** 

We have to-day caught the very spirit of the fathers. That scene, in 
which we engaged on the hill yonder, was a beautiful reproduction and 
illustration of their very spirit and methods. Some thought we were in 
a hurry. I remember reading, in a preface to the old Savoy Declara- 
tion, — which, you know, we have now reaffirmed, verbatim, and literally 
adopted, — I say, I remember reading in a preface to that old declaration, 
which was prepared by a committee of six, — Drs. Owen, Goodwin, and 
Nye, Bridge, Caryl, and Greenhill, — that they were engaged only eleven 
days, excluding Sundays, in preparing that momentous document. By way 
of apology for not spending more time upon it, they said it was pre^^ared 
by men accustomed to think for themselves, who knew what they thought, 
who could communicate to the Council what they thought and believed, 
and who thought and believed all alike.- jS^^ow, how beautifully we hare 
reproduced that thing! We have had a committee of five hundred men 
examining their faith for themselves ; we have compared our views, and 
we have found that we all feel exactly alike. Why, Mr. Chairman, the 
able document prepared in the first instance by two city pastors, with 
the concurrence of two very highly esteemed theological professors, was 
found to be altogether too abstract and metaphysical. Then we remand- 
ed that document to a large committee, and on that committee we had, 
I think, seven living professors of theology. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. Do you meai;i seven professors of 
living theology ? [Laughter.] 

Bev. Dr. Thompson. I did not say that, sir. It was apprehended, 
on all sides, that when that document was brought in, we should have 
collisions between the various schools, and that everybody would want 
to alter it. But when it was brought in, we found we were all agreed, 
" for substance of doctrine ; " and this document, which has been care- 
fully elaborated by seven theological jorofessors, is remanded to a com- 
mittee,-^ for what purpose? To eradicate any lurking heresy? No; 
to correct a few grammatical mistakes. [Laughter.] Now, Mr. Chair- 
man and gentlemen, I believe this Council to be orthodox, and I have a 
right to certify to it. If any man tells you your faith is not up to the 
old standard, there are just two men who can stand up in your vindica- 
tion. There are two men whose Calvinism is unimpeached and unim- 
peachable, — Dr. Park and myself [Laughter]; and just as surely as any 
man tells you your faith is not orthodox. Prof. Park will open his great 
gun in the " Bibliotheca Sacra," and I, with the permission of brother 
Dexter, will fire my little squibs in the " Congregational Quarterl}^; " 
and with that assurance of your Calvinism, we will carry it through, 
even to the Pacific coast. 

Now, sir, we are here, as I have said, catching the spirit, and intend- 
ing to illustrate the principles, of the fathers; and how well have we not 
only rehearsed and renewed their faith, but illustrated their order! It 



372 ADDRESSES AT PLYMOUTH. 

was a meeting acting in order. Those men who came to these shores 
taught us another lesson. We do not need walls around us to give us a 
sense of order. ISTo; when the living men touched this soil from the 
Mayflower, -there was a State; and when the living souls, joined to 
Christ, came from that ship to these shores, there was a Church, without 
walls, without roof ; and they have taught us that the ijrinciple of order 
and of organic life and unity is in ourselves, and not in the external ar- 
rangements of the hour. We therefore met in order ; we acted in order ; 
we illustrated the other grand princiiDle, the conservative principle of the 
polity of our fathers, that, wherever, with a believing faith, men are 
convened for the work of Christ, there is the spirit of Christ, and there 
is the order of the Lord's house; and I maintain that no confession has 
ever gone forth from any Council prior to this, under circumstances of 
more grand and imposing order and solemnity than were witnessed on 
yonder hill to-day. 

Sir, we shall go now, in the spirit of this polity and this faith, remem- 
bering that the first act of those noble men, before they built their own 
houses, was to put up a rude house in which to worship God, and, when 
threatened by enemies, to make it a battlement for their defense. You 
know that they did not dare (ah! this is why we can not identify the 
resting-place of those honored dead!) — they did not dare to put up the 
rude monument or raise a mound upon their graves, lest the Indians, 
counting the number of the fallen, should come and lay waste the whole 
settlement. Brethren, what, after all, have we known of sacrifice, of con- 
secration, and the baptism of blood! Let us take ui}on our souls, — God 
hearing and blessing us. in this hallowed hour, — let us take upon our 
souls the faith and the duty of the fathers, and over their uncounted, name- 
less graves, of which we can only know that here they who gave them- 
selves for their country lie, let us move forward in the grand march of 
God and humanity, for the redemption of this land unto Christ, and the 
building here of a temple that shall overarch the continent. [Applause.] 

Eev. Dr. Stoiste. These are the home-voices to which you have lis- 
tened ; these the greetings, these the salutations of those who know one 
another here. But stranger voices, foreign voices, speaking in our oivn 
mother tongue, and speaking in our own hereditary faith as well, will not 
be discordant vrith these home salutations. We are glad that Enghsh- 
men should see the house upon which the winds came and the rain fell, 
and against which the torrents roared, and it fell not, because it was 
founded upon a rock. [Applause.] The first Indian salutation, when the 
wandering feet of the dusky race came over yonder hill to the Pilgrim 
encampment, near Burial Hill, was also in our own native tongue, to the 
surprise of our fathers ; and that first salutation, from the lips of Sa- 
moset, was, "Welcome, Englishmen!" We are prepared to give that 
greeting to our visitors from abroad. 

Sir [addressing Dr. Yaughan], I ask you to stand upon your feet, that 
I may have you by the hand. We have welcomed you to our shores and 
to our hospitality, and I think we have become tolerably familiar with 
you. We have opened our whole heart to you. [Laughter and ap* 



ADDRESSES AT PLYMOUTH. 373 

planse.] 'We have said everything that was down in the bottom of our 
heart; it is all said; we have made a clean breast of it [Laughter]; it is 
all out; there is nothing more hidden there, you may be sure. We feel 
a great deal better about it, and I dare say you do. [Loud laughter and 
applause.] The relation between us is now a thousand-fold more cordial. 
We ask you not to carry away any grudge, and we know you will not. 
[Applause.] 

REMARKS OF REV. ROBERT VAUGHAN, D. D., OF ENGLAND. 

They talk about English fervor sometimes; but to get up to American 
fervor, I feel is a very difficult thing to do. [Applause.] I am very glad 
of it. 

It is now one-and-twenty years ago since I started a periodical in Eng- 
land, intended to vindicate the principles of Congregationalism, and the 
first article in that periodical was upon the Pilgrim Fathers. At that 
time English non-conformists were thinking but very little about the Pil- 
grim Fathers, and, I am sorry to say, very little about American Con- 
gregationalism ; but they have learned to think a great deal more of 
them since that time. In writing that article I had a map of this neigh- 
borhood before me. I studied it in all its details, to the best -of my abil- 
ity, and pictured to my imagination the scenes that I supposed to have 
taken place in the year 1620. You will readily understand that I have 
come to this spot to-day with a good deal of interest, remembering how 
I felt in relation to it in those distant times. I have tried to picture to 
myself that boat which came off from the Mayflower; the dark clouds, as 
they floated through the sky; the descending sleet, as it came upon the 
men who rowed the boat, and upon all who were within it, and coated 
them over with ice, as if they were dressed in mail; and how they land- 
ed upon that spot, and there, amidst the cold, wintry night, with diffi- 
culty kindled their first fire upon the soil, and offered up their first even- 
ing prayer. It is pleasant now to be able to see, that though there were 
things they hoped to realize here that they did not, Providence was ac- 
complishing by them results greatly beyond anything they dared 'to ask 
or think. They did, as you are accustomed to believe, lay the founda- 
tions of empire for this continent; and it is delightful to me to feel as- 
sured, that what was done by them and those who came in their track, 
and which has become embodied in your institutions, and enshrined in 
your religious faith, formed the elements that are to leaven your whole 
country, in ages to come, to a far greater degree than now. It is a de- 
lightful thing to be able to see, that the seeds that were then sown, are 
seeds which we can fully anticipate are to achieve great things. Chris- 
tianity itself grew up in the world without observation. It did not make 
its way through the earth from senates and monarchs downward ; it made 
its way through the earth from the people downward. [Applause.] We 
get our tailoring and our millinery from court pageants; we get our 
opinions from ourselves. [Applause.] And this is God's way of carry- 
ing on his work in the world. 

I feel sure, my friends, that you have a very imperfect impression of 



374 ADDRESSES AT PLYMOUTH. 

the feeling that has prompted my brethren in England to send myself 
and my valued brother, Dr. Kaleigh, into the midst of you. I am quite 
sure they are counting the days until we get back again, that they may 
hear what we have to say about you; and I am thankful that we shall be 
able to tell them that which they will be glad to hear. [Applause.] I 
am confident that I see about me, in your midst, the budding influences 
that are to achieve great results in the new circumstances in which Prov- 
idence has placed you. When Christianity came into the world, two 
thirds of the human race were slaves to the other one third. Christian- 
ity was to sweep away that. The serfdom of the middle ages was an- 
other form of servitude that came into the place of the ancient; and the 
lakt vestige of that servitude has been swept away, to his infinite honor, 
by the Emperor of Eussia. [Applause.] And now, the last link of the 
slave in Christian nations may be virtually said to have been struck off 
by you. [Applause.] It is a great thing to have been called by Provi- 
dence to bring that great evil to humanity to the issue to which we have 
reason to believe it is now brought. It would seem a sad thing, indeed, 
that eighteen hundred years should have been needed thus far to regen- 
erate the great mass of society; but G-od's ways are slow; it has been 
accomplished in his time; and there is no chapter in your history that 
will be more to your honor than your having recorded your inextinguish- 
able antagonism to that institution, as unchristian, unrighteous, and in- 
human. [Applause.] 

I would just say, further, the good men who came over here from 
England came, as you know, not merely as a church, but to found a 
state. The necessities of their circumstances were such that they were 
obliged to do so. They are charged with having enacted exclusive laws; 
with having become great persecutors. I am quite sure that portion of 
their history is but very imperfectly understood. They came, at indes- 
cribable cost, to secure for themselves the settlement which they ob- 
tained on this soil; and when that was accomplished, having made their 
church-membership their franchise, and founded their little state, — the 
church and state being carried on by the same men, — they said to all 
the world, " We have founded this state at great charge and peril to our- 
selves. Any man wishing to have the benefit of it is open freely to take 
that benefit, but he must respect the conditions on which we have 
founded it. If he wishes to introduce something different from what we 
have regarded as right toward man and acceptable to God, the world is 
before him; let him go and found a state according to his fancies. [Ap- 
plause.] Let us have that which has cost us much, which is properly 
our own, and have it we will; no one shall invade it. If the attempt be 
made to force disorder into our community, we will force that element 
out of it." Now, sir, if I had lived among those men, I should 
have done just that. [Applause.] I should have taken precisely that 
course; and instead of its being a course at variance with what was 
Wise and good, it was the very course that that patriarch of Congrega- 
tionalism, John Kobinson, laid down as grave counsel for these early set- 
tlers. He told them they could not afford to have their little settlement 



ADDRESSES AT PLYMOUTH. 375 

rocked in every direction by all varieties of opinion; that they should 
settle their system for themselves, and uphold it until it could bear a dif- 
ferent policy; and that was the course they pursued. It is a mistake, 
therefore, to charge these men with having been narrow-minded perse- 
cutors. They were wiser, by far, than the dilletanti critics who presume 
to sit in judgment upon them. [Loud applause.] 

Now, my friends, I am looking upon you here about Boston for the 
last time. I am about to go home to my own people to live and die 
among them; and I think I shall be able to do a little more good in 
God's world than I should otherwise have done, from having come into 
this neighborhood, and being able to return with the report of you that 
I can take. [Applause.] My countrymen shall know what has taken 
place here to-day. They shall know what has taken place in that Coun- 
cil of yours. There shall be a clearing out of my heart, as well as 
yours. [Loud applause.] I respect the man who does that, — ■ the man 
who gives out what G-od has put in him to-day, as God has given it; and 
if he has something different to bring out to-morrow, gives that out to- 
morrow. [Applause.] I was in the midst of an elite assembly the other 
day in London, consisting of a grand gathering of our literary men, 
who all got at loggerheads about something that was to be done ; and 
after I had sat and heard the quarrel for a long time, I said to them, 
" Well, now, you have had a pretty good clearing out all round. Are 
you Englishmen? Are you willing, after all this, to shake hands and go 
to work and do the thing that is to be done? " That simple putting pro- 
duced at once a laugh; and then they said, " Really, that is the best 
way; " and the thing was done. Let it be so here. Let there be a clear- 
ing out. I have nothing in me that you don't know now [Laughter] ; 
and I am glad that you have called it out. I shall go home quite confi- 
dent that you do give me the place of an honest man, and that we shall 
love each other all the more for all this coming to pass. Our hearts are 
with you. [Applause.] 

Rev. Dr. Stone. ]N'othing that has been said needs confirmation; but 
you know it is written, that " out of the mouth of two or three witnesses 
every word shall be established;" and we must go according to Scrip- 
ture. I shall therefore call upon the colleague of Dr. Yaughan, Dr. Ra- 
leigh, from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, — and the whole oj 
Great Britain. [Laughter and applause.] 

REMARKS OF REV. ALEXANDER RALEIGH, D. D., OF ENGLAND. 

I shall be very happy to take my part, on returning to England, in 
the telUng of all that has happened to us here; and in telling our Eng- 
lish brethren who have sent us, that we feel that all that has happened 
has been, as we trust, for the furtherance of the gospel. I shall be very 
happy to see any of you on the English shores; and if I knew the ship 
by which that gentleman who spoke first yesterday morning [Rev. A. H. 
Quint] would come, I would go to the shore to meet him and bid him 
welcome. 



376 ADDRESSES AT PLYMOUTH. ' 

I did not know until to-day that it was the shortest day of all the year, 
the 21st of December, — a cold, bitter, wintry day, — when the Pilgrims 
landed down yonder. It is rather a singular coincidence that we are as- 
sembled here on the longest day of all the year, — the 22d of June. — in 
the bloom and hight of mid-summer. " The winter is past, the rains are 
over and gone, the flowers appear upon the earth, and the time of the 
singing of birds is come." [Applause.] They landed down yonder, a 
few men, comparatively, representing principles rather than any great 
number of persons. We here to-day may be said to be the representa- 
tives of a great multitude, which could hardly be numbered, out of 
many nations, and jDcoples, and tongues. They fled, not from perse- 
cuting England, but from England's persecuting government; and there 
is rather a difierence between these two things, remember. [Applause.] 
We are here to-day. Englishmen and Scotchmen, representing, how- 
ever imperfectly, yet truly, the best, part, and, I take leave to say, — 
although that is not according to the document that was carried yester- 
day morning, — the greatest number of the English people, uniting with 
you, in cordially honoring the memory and ado^Dting the principles of 
those men in the main. [Applause.] They fled for shelter and for safety 
in the wilderness ; and now the wilderness has been changed into a fruit- 
ful field, and you have made this place now more than ever an asylum 
and home for the oppressed of all the world. What a change! And 
yet, I bethink me to-day, " that which hath been is now, and that which 
is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past." I 
look around upon you, American citizens, who have struggled and fought 
and bled in your representatives and servants, and I say. Are you not 
standing to-day in that shadow of Calvary in which the Pilgrims stood, 
and which is over all the earth? Have you not been drinking of their 
cup? Have you not been ba]3tized with their baptism? Have you not 
been fighting, under difierent conditions, and in a wider field, the same 
battle of freedom which they fought in their expatriation and life-long 
endurance? I feel it an honor to-day, — I speak solemnly, and as in the 
presence of G-od, — I feel it an honor to be permitted to stand here in 
your presence, and to assert my solemn belief that you never so much as 
now were worthy to call yourselves the sons of those great fathers. 
That social state which they founded you have guarded, you have de- 
fended, you have preserved, you have laid, if I mistake not, on a more 
solid if not wider basis than at first. You have fought, as I said, the 
self-same battle, — a battle extending over a wide continent, continuing, 
without interruption, through four long, weary years ; but the fruits ot 
it who can number or tell? Liberty to the slave, — elevation to the 
South, — the hand of true brotherhood to all free nations, and all nations 
that wish to be free! Your own part, in short, and that not a little part, 
in that benediction from on high, " Glory to God in the highest, on 
earth peace, and good- will among men! " [Loud applause.] 

Rev. Dr. Stone. May it please the court, — we desire to swear in 
one more witness to this point. You will hear the testimony of Dr. 
Massie, vfho is invited to take the stand. 



ADDRESSES AT PLYMOUTH. 377 

EEMAEKS OF EEV. JAMES W. MASSIE, D. D., LL. D., OF ENGLAND. 

I wish I were qualified to do justice to the subject, to the scene, and 
to my own feelings. But " I am no orator, as Brutus is." [Applause.] 
I can not " put a tongue in every wound " of your country, and make it 
speak as it ought to speak, to stir you on, not to a " flood of mutiny," 
but to a flow of love between yourselves, and between America and 
England. [Applause.] I have met many during the proceedings of 
this Council who have taken me by the hand and have asked if I was 
indeed Dr. Massie, and expressed their thanks for the humble services 
that I tried to render your country two years ago, and that I have been 
trying to render to your cause during the interval of my return to 
England until the present hour. [AjDplause.] I know what England is. 
I have met the operative classes, and the skilled mechanics of the coun- 
try, in all parts of England, and in that part of the kingdom of which 
my friend Dr. Kaleigh is so proud, and to which I belong as well as he, 
— for I am of the good Scotch blood that he so rejoices in, — I say I 
have met the mechanics of that country, even to the shipwrights, and 
some of them building vessels that were designed to run the blockade, 
or to fight the battles of piracy, and I have challenged them to come 
upon the floor and answer for it whether they, with their hard hands, 
could sympathize with the ministers of oppression, who only sought to 
establish the Confederacy that they might put down labor and its rights 
amongst men. [Applause.] I know what the middle classes of England 
are, for I have been engaged by them, sustained by them; I know their 
benevolence and hberality; and I say that the men who are the cream 
of the middle classes of England are with America. I have said to Dr. 
Kaleigh to-day, that my firm conviction is that three fifths of the popu- 
lation of England, Ireland, and Scotland are with the IsTorth, and have 
been with the North, through all its struggle until this hour. [Applause.] 
I went to the borough of Mr. Lindsey, the member of Parliament who 
stood up in the house and confessed that he had been guilty of the folly 
of going to Louis Kapoleon, in order that they might confer for the 
recognition of the South. I went to his borough, and met a committee 
of his representatives, and defied them to sustain him in his infamous 
conduct ; and they felt that it was needful he should go down to soothe 
them, to speak sweet words to them, after I had had two full meetings 
of his constituents, and lectured for an hour and a half on America; and 
then they did not dare to put a resolution in his favor to the audience. 

Do not, therefore, suppose that we three individuals are the representa- 
tives of a fraction only of England, Ireland, and Scotland. I dare say 
there is another fifth who are for you now. [Applause.] I dare say 
the " Times " will tell you that Jefierson Davis has sacrificed his party 
by stupidity [Laughter] ; that Gen. Lee, after all, was no great general 
[Renewed laughter] ; and that, in fact, the Southern party have alto- 
gether failed because they were not fit to be an emx)ire! [Merriment.] 
Take the " Times," and you will take a lying slanderer for your witness, 
only fit to be the companion of your own " IsTew York Herald." [Laughter 
and applause.] Nay, it is fed upon the garbage that has flow^ed through 



378 ADDRESSES AT PLYMOUTH. 

the sewer of the " Herald " office. Don't suppose that it represents the 
English public opinion; it may try to catch it sometimes, and try to mis- 
represent it. The " Daily Kews," the " Morning Star," the Manchester 
" Examiner and Times," the Leeds " Mercury," the " Caledonian Mer- 
cury," the " Spectator," of London, and a dozen other papers that I co^ld 
name, would tell you what England is a thousand times better than the 
'' Times " does. [Applause.] 

But I am not here to talk of these things, as if you needed to be per- 
suaded toward our country; nor am I here to speak on behalf of my 
brethren, who have so well spoken for themselves. I am sure, however, 
that Dr. Yaughan never would have set his foot upon the American shore, 
if he had not been satisfied it was his duty to come, and if he had not 
been determined to do his duty to you, as a faithful witness and friend 
of liberty, and the champion of the truth everywhere. [Applause.] I 
can not pretend or profess to describe what I have seen during the last 
ten days. I have been to Magara and marked the Ealls there, and read 
descriptions of them, and I have wondered that men would attempt to 
describe Niagara. Why, they might as well attempt to fathom every 
foot of the ocean deep. And I rather think my friend. Dr. Yaughan, will 
find it a task to tell what he has seen and what he has yet to see in this 
vast country. [Applause.] He is going to New York, to Washington, 
to Richmond, to Chicago, to the Mississij)pi. Let him roll the waters 
of the Mississippi back again, and then he will be able to describe a 
country whose arms stretch out to the farthest heavens, whose riches go 
down to the deej^est depths, and whose population are destined, in my 
humble judgment, to be the mightiest people in the earth. [Applause.] 
I wish we could get a united banner. [AjDplause.] I wish the Union 
Jack might be in the right corner, and the stars — I wont say in the left 
[Laughter] — the stars in their own proper places [Applause] — that 
England and America might be one in the missions that are to be con- 
ducted amongst your colored people, — missions that are, I trust, to be 
conducted with the same efficiency and fidelity that characterize the 
management of your foreign missions. I have divided my bread with 
the American missionary. I have been welcomed as a guest in the 
Arnerican Mission House, in India ; I have traversed that country in 
company with American missionaries; I went forth with Gordon Hall 
in the last journey that devoted servant of God took, when he died upon 
the way, serving his Master; and I tell you^ that as far as I can judge 
from my reading and from my personal intercourse, there is not, in all 
the branches of the church of God, a more faithful, a more efficient 
body, a body more worthy of the confidence of those who send them, 
and of those who meet them, than the men and women who are mission- 
aries from America to heathen lands. [Applause.] 

Eev. Dr. Stoiste. There was a blending, in the earlier days, the old 
days of storm and strife, of a foreign flag with ours. We shall never 
forget that the flag of France was blended with the stars and stripes in 
those early days. Old Erance was with young America then; and 
though America is a little older now, she is still youthful America; and 



ADDRESSES AT PLYMOUTH. 379 

yonng France is, in her heart of hearts, with ns. And, on this shore, no 
person could more fitly represent young France than our young brother 
Monod, from Paris. 

REMARKS OF REV. THEODORE MOXOD, OF FRANCE. 

Mr. Moderator, Ladies and Gentlemen, — It is with great joy and with 
honest pride that I find myself here to-day, the representative of the 
land of Lafayette in the land of Washington; and, what is higher yet, 
the representative of the land of Calvin in the land of the Pilgrims. 
[Applause.] What I feel this day, I will not even attempt to describe 
to you. T cannot describe it to myself. But this one great thought seems 
to underlie all the others, — that we are brought face to face with what 
is the very source of all your greatness and of all your influence, — yea, 
of your very life. We have been hearing and we have been talking, 
during these last days, of that great war into which and through which 
and out of which the hand of. God has led you; and although our minds 
were lifted iip so high, and our hearts glowed with such warmth of feel- 
ing, that it seemed as though there could hardly be a higher or a warmer 
feehng, yet I do feel that all this, — the overthrow of this rebellion, the 
future that lies before you, the work that you have in your hands, is 
comparatively a small thing, if you put it side by side with what we see, 
or, rather, what we think of to-day. What would your nation be worth 
without the faith of the Pilgrim Fathers? That monument on Bunker 
Hill is a great monument, and 1776 is a glorious year; but all that, even, 
fades away before the glory of the light that shines from this place. 
[Applause.] What would liberty itself be worth without the faith of 
the Pilgrim Fathers? Liberty is nothing but an instrument; and what 
is liberty good for unless it has the grace of G-od to inspire it, — unless it 
has the glory of God for its aim, and the laws of God for its bounds? 
[Applause.] 

Here, then, we are brought face to face with these Pilgrim Fathers; 
and when we reach them, — ah! we have not reached the foundation yet; 
and the}' would be the first to tell us so, — we reach to God in them. 
And if there is a feeling to-day in our hearts, it is the feeling that God is 
here ; that God who was here, who is here, and who will be here, " the 
same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." And if you would (and you know 
this far better than I do) carry on the work that lies before you, if you 
would remain the home of liberty and the hope of mankind, if you 
would remain as a light-house' on the ocean shore to all the people of the 
earth, be true to the faith of the Pilgrim Fathers, who are our fathers 
also; for did they not bring from us, — not only from England, but 
from us over in Holland and in France, from Calvin and others, — the 
glorious truth that they brought with them here? This is what I need 
not say here; but oh, how I need to say it in France! Oh, that I may 
say it with more intelligence and earnestness than ever before! We 
have some intelligent writers in Paris who speak of America, and who 
say, " There is liberty there, and every man respects the rights of every 
other man, and that is a very fine thing; " a^d they want us to have 



380 ADDRESSES AT PLYMOUTH. 

American institutions as far as we are able. Then they say, " In Amer- 
ica, they have a great manjMnventions, — they have the sewing-machine, 
and many other things. Why, they read the Bible in the morning and 
the evening in their families, and they have a great deal of preaching." 
They jnst dispose of the whole subject of Bible preaching as they would 
tell that you have rocking-chairs in your houses. They seem to 
take it as an incident of American life; they do not look upon it as 
a vital principle. That is what we want to learn from you. And 
in order that we may learn from you, you must continue to teach us, 
and teach us more and more. You must go on and on, in view of the 
great work you want to do, " seeking first the kingdom of God and his 
righteousness, and all things else shall be added unto you." [Applause.] 

But I will not preach to you myself. I will read to you a sentence 
that I copied from the grave of Kobert Cushman. " You," he says, 
" my loving friends " (and I may well call you " my loving friends "), 
" the adventurers to this plantation, as your care has been first to settle 
religion before either profit or popularity, so, I pray you, go on." You 
go on; be true to yourselves; be true to George Washington; be 
true to Abraham Lincoln. [Applause.] Aye, more: be true to the Pil- 
grim Fathers ; be true to the world that looks upon you. And you will 
do all this, if you are true to the Lord Jesus Christ. [Loud applause.] 

Bev. Dr. Stois'E. Kow we come back from over the sea; and I am 
going to cross the breadth of the continent, to the very shores of the 
Mississippi, that the tide of the " Father of Waters " may answer back 
to the voice of " the bay where the Mayflower lay." While I am step- 
ping over the Alleghanies for Dr. Post, I will ask Dr. Adams, of Maine, 
to sing the " Battle Hymn of the Republic." 

Mrs. Julia Ward Howe's popular hymn was sung by Dr. 
Adams with thrillmg effect, the audience very generally joining 
in the chorus. 

Eev. Dr. Stoiste. While Dr. Post is coming over the Alleghanies, I 
will say that we have just twelve minutes to remain here, which will give 
us an opportunity to hear four speeches of three minutes each. [Laugh- 
ter.] 

REMARKS OF REV. TRUMAN" M. POST, D. D., OF MISSOURI. 

Mr. President^ Gentlemen and Ladies^ — I feel oppressed as I stand in 
this place, and am called upon in three minutes to say anything worthy 
of the position; but I will say, in the first place, that I am glad, I re- 
joice, that {,>t these portals, through which History entered this new 
world, we commune together to-day, not only with each other, but with 
rejDresentatives from the old world; and I feel that it is fitting we should 
do it here, rather than in Boston harbor. 

We have been engaged for two hundred and fifty years in a mighty 
experiment. When, from the storm and conflagration of war that envel- 



ADDRESSES AT PLYMOUTH. 381 

oped the old Trorld, like a frightened bird emerging from the tempest 
was seen the Mayflower hovering off your coast, when it furled its sails 
within the harbor of Plymouth, it seems to me, in looking upon that 
scene, that I see emerging from that ship, not simply human personali- 
ties, but the representatives of mighty principles, vast ideas, that, emerg- 
ing from the conflict of the old world, the baptism of blood and tears, 
and the storms of the great deep, touched these hills, and sent a thrill 
that is to stretch through the ages and through the length and breadth 
of this continent, till time shall be no more. [Applause.] 

To-da}^ we inquire, what has been the history of those principles since 
that hour; and I seemed to see, as we stood upon that hill, forms that 
were not walking among us or of us, that came from other times and 
inquired of us what we were doing with that which they brought to work 
thus mightily here. And we could point to states and empires that have 
been gathered and built up in the far West ; we could point to the 
achievement of the liberties of a great nation; to mighty works wrought 
in the name of civil and religious liberty and the rights of man. But, 
alas ! a bloody gulf rose up before us, and in it there was another form 
emergent; and that form had well-nigh stricken. down those ideas which 
came forth in the persons of Winthrop and Bradford and Brewster, — 
and that were represented, too, by the lovely Rose^that came so soon to 
wither in the frosts of the new world. There had been a struggle be- 
tween the light and the darkness, and from that struggle the x^rinciples 
of light had at last come forth triumphant, and we could point this day 
with exultation to the fact, not only that from the shores of the Atlantic 
to the golden coast of the Pacific, yonder beaateous and glorious emblem 
lifted its folds to the breeze triumphant, but that with it had gone their 
principles and their ideas, and they were this hour ascendant. 

I will not detain you longer, brethren, with my three minutes' speech; 
but I bid you, in the presence of the genius of this place, in the midst of 
these friends that are around us, in the presence of friends from other 
parts of the world, and of those who have come up here from other ages 
to meet us in the light of this descending sun, farewell. Brothers, let us 
stand together, and not only cover this continent with our institutions of 
liberty, but with those principles of eternal truth that this day we have 
sworn to again upon the graves of our fathers. [Applause.] 

Rev. Dr. Stoiste. It would be pleasant to have at least one voice from 
the Capitol. There is a United States senator somewhere in the grounds, 
whose voice has always been true to liberty, and the first pirinciples of 
an old Puritan faith, against any and every antagonism. [Voices — 
" Wilson " — " Wilson."] As you have introduced him, I need not name 
him. 

Senator Wilson not appearing, the chairman continued, — 

While Senator Wilson is trying, timidly, to approach, — as he also is 
known to be a sensitive and shrinking man [Laughter] — I will cover his 
approach by asking you to listen to a voice from Kew Haven, Conn. 
1 The wife of Captain Standish died Jan. 29, 1621, a month after the landing. 



382 ADDRESSES AT PLYMOUTH. 

REMARKS OF REV. LEONARD BACON, D. D., OF CONNECTICUT. 

What is the use of a man, who is essentially long-winded, undertaking 
to make a speech in three minutes? 

Kev. Dr. Stone. You shall have five. 

Kev. Dr. Bacon. Well, I have only one thing to say, and I will say 
it in short meter. I would like to make quite a circuitous approach to 
it, but I will come right up. [Laughter and applause.] We sometimes, 
heretofore, have talked of the mother country, and have recognized our 
English friends as the elder branch of the family. This late war of ours, 
in the providence of God, was a war of independence. Our political in- 
dependence was recognized-in the year 1783; but our social, moral, and 
intellectual independence has not been recognized heretofore, and we 
have not been conscious of it ourselves. I said to some of our English 
friends, four years ago, " At the end of this war, when we come out vic- 
torious over all the powers of evil, and this broad continent is never 
more to be cursed with the footstep of a slave, we shall set up to be the 
elder branch of the family " [Applause] ; and what our brethren have 
been saying to us to-day and yesterday, gives the explanation of that 
prophecy. You know the prophets always spoke in a double sense, and 
didn't know the extent of what they said. The principles that came in 
at this gate of history are victorious not only here, but henceforth in 
England; and not this "boundless continent" alone is theirs, but that 
boundless continent also is theirs, by a predestination that is at last re- 
vealed. The principles of liberty, civil and religious; the principles of 
indefinite progress; the princiioles of universal human welfare, that, in the 
providence of God, were embarked on board the Mayflower, and that be- 
gan to be planted here two hundred and forty-four years and six months 
ago this day, — those princijoles are yet to receive the homage of all aris- 
tocrats, of all imperial thrones, for those jprinciples are the Gospel of our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; and the day is dawning when a voice 
shall be heard on high, saying, " The kingdoms of this world are become 
the kingdoms of our Lord, and he shall reign for ever." [Voices — 
"Amen!"] 

As I came in sight of this harbor this morning, — I never saw it be- 
fore — 

A YoiCE. You ought to be ashamed of it. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon. I am not, because I have been, all my life, a labor- 
ing man, and never had time to indulge in the pleasures of sentimental- 
ity. Forty years ago, for the first time, I entered Boston; and I have 
been in Boston a great many times, and have passed through Charles- 
town a great many times ; but the first time I ever saw Bunker Hill was 
last Saturday; the first time that ever I stood within the walls of Fan- 
euil Hall was yesterday; and to-day is the first time I ever was at Plym- 
outh. I am going, by and by, to a better Plymouth than this. 

I was about to say, that I was thinking, as I came in sight of this 
harbor, and the spot was pointed out to me where the shallojD rounded 
the point and came so near being wTccked, why it was that they were 



ADDRESSES AT PLYMOUTH. 383 

saved. It was because of Calvinism. That explains it all. The des- 
tiny of the world was in that shallop. Csesar was a bit of a Calvinist 
when he told the pilot not to be afraid, for the boat in which he sailed 
carried the fortune of Csesar. That shallop could not be wrecked, be- 
cause the destiny of the world — God's purposes — were in that boat. 
And so it rounded the point in the darkness, shot into the calm and tran- 
quil waters of the harbor; and the destiny of the world was safe, be- 
cause it was in the hollow of God's hand; safe until 

" The waves of the bay where the Mayflower lay 
Shall foam and freeze no more." 

Rev. Dr. Stone. Now, is that lost senator here? [Voices — "No, 
sir."] Then shall we not, before we join in the Doxology, have a voice 
from Brooklyn Hights? Mr. Beecher is not here; but we can have a 
voice from those Hights, if you desire it. I will call upon the Rev. Dr 
Budington. 

EEMARKS OF EEV. WILLIAM L BUDINGTON, D. D., OF NEW YORK. 

I will say one word, brethren and friends. I will say this: that I un- 
derstand to-day, as I never did before, that our Congregationalism is a 
spiritual power, a history. Multitudes, who have gone to Niagara, say 
that they were disappointed. Multitudes, who have come to Plymouth, 
have said they were disappointed; that Plymouth Rock, of which we 
have heard so much, has disappeared in the soil of America. It scarcely 
crops out above ground; Avhile the graves of the fathers are not to be 
found. John Robinson's house, in Leyden, can not be made pilgrimages 
to; the graves of the honored and beloved dead here can not be made a 
pilgrimage to. Why? Because the cause of truth, which the Pilgrims 
bore to our shore, is a spiritual one; and that spirit is now taken to the 
very ends of the continent. And I c^laira to-day Abraham Lincoln as 
the main agent who has consummated the Puritan spirit and Puritan 
histor}^. [Applause.] It fell to me last autumn, as the mouthpiece of 
the Congregational Association of New York, to carry loyal resolutions 
down to Washington, and lay them before our now martyred president. 
I told him that I came to him with principles that landed more than two 
centuries ago on Plymouth Rock; that I came to him in the name- of 
the advocates of those principles that were now spread across the conti- 
nent; that we believed the war then raging, and over which he was pre- 
siding, was a war that had grown distinctly out of the cause that 
landed on Plymouth Rock; and that every man, woman, and child of 
the sons of the Pilgrims was with him. And what do you think our 
president said? Looking me steadily in the eyes, and elongating that 
form of his, his eyes flashing upon me, he said, " Sir, I think that is ex- 
actly the state of the case." [Applause.] 

The Doxology, " Praise God from whom all blessings flow," 
<fec.,was then sung, after which, the company hastened to the 
cars, and returned to Boston, having spent a most delightful 
and profitable day. 



384 DECLARATION OF FAITH. MISCELLANEOUS. 

IS^IKTH DAY, FRIDAY, JUKE 23. 

The Council was called to order, and opened by prayer, at 9 
o'clock, A. M., by the Fh^st Assistant Moderator, Hon. C. G. 
Hammond, of Illinois. 

The Scribe read the proceedings of the last two days, and the 
record was approved. 

DECLAEATION OF FAITH. 

The first business in order was the appointment, by ballot, of 
a committee to revise the Declaration of Faith in its phrase- 
ology. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Dutton, of Connecticut, the vote re- 
quiring the committee to be nominated by ballot was reconsidered. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Eddy, of Massachusetts, a committee 
of three, to be appointed by the Moderators of the Council, was 
substituted. 

FINAL ADJOURNMENT. 

Rev. Mr. Quint, of the Business Committee, reported that, 
according to present appearances, a day or two of next week 
would probably be required to finish the business of the 
Council. 

Rev. Dr. Holbrook, of New York, moved that the committee 
be instructed to arrange matters if possible so as to adjourn to- 
morrow at the usual hour. A large proportion of the members, 
to his knowledge, would leave this week, and the important 
matters should first be acted upon. 

- Rev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio, stated that the business could not 
be finished without restricting debate to an extent the commit- 
tee did not feel authorized or disposed to recommend. 

Rev. Mr. Gulliver and Rev. Dr. Bacon were opposed to the 
motion. 

Rev. Dr. Holbrook modified his motion, so as to instruct the 
committee to present the more important matters for action 
first. 

The motion, as modified, was laid upon the table. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

The thanks of the Council were tendered to the Hon. Collector 



PROTEST. MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. • 385 

Goodrich, for his polite invitation to the Council to make an 
excursion down the harbor. 

The Business Committee reported the order of business for 
the morning session of to-day. 

On motion, the order was amended so as to bring the report 
upon systematic benevolence before the report on the Congre- 
gational House ; — ayes 85 ; noes 49. 

Rev. Dr. Bouton, of New Hampshire, moved that a committee 
be appointed to express the views of the Council in regard to the 
first report upon the Declaration of Faith. 

The motion was laid upon the table. 

PROTEST. 

Eev. Mr. Allen, of Massachusetts. I rise to a question of privilege. 
At Plymouth, yesterday, on Burial Hill, I entered my protest against a 
paper then read by Brother Quint, and was specially desired by the Mod- 
erator to present the same in writing after the adjournment to this place. 
When I entered my protest, it was, on my part, unexpected, unpremedi- 
tated, and entirely extemporaneous, growing out of the character of the 
paper as then and there presented. I now take the earliest opportunity 
to present that protest in the entire spirit of it, and, as nearly as I can. 
recollect, in the exact words : 

" Standing over the ashes of the Pilgrim Pathers, and on the summit 
of this hill consecrated to their memory, I solemnly protest against the 
adoption of the paper here and now presented, as being too sectarian for 
their catholic spirit, and too narrow to comprehend the breadth of their 
principles of religious freedom." 

On motion of Hon. Mr. Hammond, of Illinois (the Moderator 
having taken the chair), 

The protest was accepted, and ordered to be placed on the 
minutes of the Council. 

The following members were appointed as the committee 
upon verbal revision of the Declaration of Faith : 

Eev. William A. Stearns, D. D., of Massachusetts. 
Eev. William W. Patton, D. D., of Illinois. 
Eev. Julius A. Eeed, of Iowa. 

MINISTEEIAL SUPPOET. 

Hon. Edward D. Holton, of Wisconsin, chairman of the com- 
mittee on the paper on Ministerial Support, made the following 
verbal report : 

25 



386 • MINISTERIAL SUPPORT. 

The committee felt themselves embarrassed by the magnitude of the 
question submitted to them, and the subject matters that were perpetu- 
ally pressing upon them. They drew up sundry resolutions, which at 
one time they adopted ; but finally reconsidered them, and laid them all 
aside. There came before them complaints of the meager and inade- 
quate support of the ministry. There was testimony as to the meanness 
and narrowness of societies, to a degree that was truly painful. But 
upon the whole, looking carefully over the admirable paper of Dr. Shep- 
ard, we concluded that we could add nothing to what he had said upon 
that point. That report recommends the system of ownership of the 
property, so that the pews can be rented for the support of the ministry. 
But in new communities this can not exist, or must be meager at best, 
and the old method of subscription must still be resorted to. The report 
of Dr. Shepard deprecated resorting to festivals as a method of eking 
out the support of the ministry. Your committee, while they would not 
discard this pleasant method of contributing to charitable objects, agree 
with the original report in deprecating its use in the support of the min- 
istry. 

Your committee are also of opinion that the societies of our denomina- 
tion who may hereafter build churches, should not, by the selection of a 
miserable place, and the erection of a wretched house of worship, un- 
sightly to behold, entail upon their societies a living death, and such cir- 
cumstances that it will ever be almost impossible to establish or sustain 
a ministry in such places. The papal churches select the sightly and 
beautiful places throughout the land to erect their edifices ujdou; and 
make them commodious and handsome, that the youth of the community 
may be attracted there. So should we pay such attention to the exter- 
nal surroundings of the house of worship, and make the associations so 
pleasant, that the minister may be able to call around him those of sufii- 
cient ability to contribute to his support. But considering this subject 
as rather belonging to the Committee on Church Building than to them- 
selves, they left it out of their report. 

Your Committee testify to the nobleness and great-heartedness of 
many brethren scattered through the churches, through the length and 
breadth of the land, and hope that it may incite a hke-minded liberality 
among them everywhere. The question of extravagant salaries paid by 
some churches also came to the attention of the Committee; and they 
recommend that while good salaries be given, the societies give more to 
missionary associations, instead of inciting undue ambition among the 
ministry in that direction. 

But after all, your Committee considered that this Council was not 
one of cardinals and popes, to give direction and instruction to Congre- 
gational bodies, how they should act, and they therefore laid aside all 
their resolutions, and present the following rei3ort: 

" The Committee to whom was referred the paper submitted to this 
Council by the preliminary committee through its chairman, Kev. George 
Shepard, D. d., on the subject of Ministerial Support, have had the same 
Tinder careful consideration, and beg leave to report it back to this body 



CONVENTION AT CLEVELAND. 387 

witli their cordial approval, and with the recommendation that it be 
adopted by the Council, and that at least 10,000 copies be printed, if 
within the province of the Council so to do, and circulated among our 
churches as an approved compendium of the relative duties existing be- 
tween pastor and people. 

Edward D. Holton, 
William Salter, 
Hiram Elmer, 
Edwin N. Lewis, 
Selden M. Pratt, 
Marshall S. Scudder, 
David S. Williams." 

CONVENTION AT CLEVELAND. 

The Moderator read the following telegram from the Conven- 
tion of Non-Episcopal Methodists now in session at Cleveland, 
Ohio: 

" Clevelakd, Ohio, 22d Jttne, 1865. 

"To THE Moderator OF the Congregational Council: 

" The Convention of Non-Episcopal Methodists, in session at Cleve- 
land, send their fraternal greeting to the Congregational Council at Bos- 
ton. 

(Signed) W. H. Brewster, 

J. KOST, 

John Scott." 

KeVo Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio. That is a very important convention, 
consisting of three ecclesiastical bodies, — Protestant Methodists, Wes- 
leyan Methodists, and Independent Methodists, — that have seceded from 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, and have dropped the Episcopal feat- 
ures. I move that the Moderator be authorized to respond to this tele- 
gram, in the name of this Council. 

The motion was agreed to. 

The following reply was sent by them, viz. : 

"To THE Moderator or the Convention of I^on-Episcopal 

Methodists, at Cleveland, Ohio, care of Kev. H. B. Knight: 

" The ]N'ational Council of Congregational Churches, standing upon the 

basis of Christian Union, and Catholicity in faith, cordially responds to 

the fraternal greeting of the Convention at Cleveland. 

W. A. Buckingham, 
Charles G. Hammond, 
Joseph P. Thompson. 
" Boston, 23d June, 1865." 



388 COMMUNICATION FROM BOSTON, ENGLAND. 



Eev. Dr. Thompson, of New York, read the following com- 
munication, dated at Boston, Lincolnshire, England, certified 
in due form with a seal, and beautifully engrossed. 

The Pastors and Delegates p/ the Independent Churches of the 
County of Lincoln assembled at their half-yearly meeting in the Town of 
Boston, to the President and Members of the Convention of Congrega- 
tional Pastors and Churches assembled in the City of Boston, Massa- 
chusetts, TJ. S., Greeting: 

Dear Brethren, — 

Having learned that the Transatlantic Churches of our Eaith and Or- 
der are to assemble by their representatives, in the City of Boston, almost 
concurrently with the half-yearly meeting of our own County Associa- 
tion in the old town of Boston;— ^ we deem it fitting to address to you a 
message of fraternal afiection and sympathy. 

It would have aflbrded us a high satisfaction to have been able to de- 
pute one of our own brethren from our County to your Assembly, charged 
to express with the living voice, the deep interest we take in your pros- 
perity, and especially in this the hour of your Country's mingled triumph 
and sorrow. The ties by which the mother Town and her daughter are 
connected, have in various ways been recognized, but in np previous in- 
stance, that we can discover, have the Congregationalists of Lincolnshire 
addressed the descendants of the illustrious John Cotton, and those " of 
the Congregational way," who with him sought, in the wilds of Massa- 
chusetts, that freedom to worship God, which was denied them in their 
own land. 

We therefore eagerly avail ourselves of the opportunity which your 
gathering presents, to assure you how much we rejoice in the large 
measure of success, which the Eedeemer has vouchsafed to your Church- 
es; and how earnestly we pray for its continuance and increase. We are 
not discouraged by the recollection of the sore trial through which the 
great EepubUc has been called to pass. We beUeve that you have been 
engaged in a struggle for right against wrong, — for freedom against 
slavery; — and we entertain the most profound conviction, that both your 
Political and Kehgious institutions will be stronger, and more powerful 
for good, because of the discipline through which you have passed. We 
have watched the evolutions of your mighty drama with the most intense 
anxiety. But amidst all its varying fortunes, we have held firmly to the 
belief, that however it might be protracted, it must issue in the triumph 
of righteousness and mercy. 

We were stunned by the blow which dejDrived you of your noble 
President, and the world of one of its Kings of Men. But already it has 
become apiDarent, that Abraham Lincoln, the martyr, is rendering to the 
cause of his Country and of humanity, by his death, a more signal ser- 
vice than would have resulted from his prolonged life. 



COMMUNICATION FROM BOSTON, ENGLAND. 389 

Go on, then, Honored Brethren, in your work. May it be given you 
to secure for our principles a development higher, and more comprehen- 
sive than has ever been attained in the Mother Country; — to reconcile 
the fullest individual liberty with the most perfect order in the Churches 
of the Saints; — to maintain inviolate the sovereignty of the Kedeemer 
over his Church; — above all, by the preaching of the Gospel in your own 
Country, and amongst the Heathen to extend the blessings and augment 
the ti'iumphs of the Common Salvation. 

That your meeting in Convention may tend largely to promote these 
great ends is the Prayer, 

Dear Brethren, of 



Signed in behalf of the 
Lincolnshire Asso- 
ciated Pastors and 
Churches of the Con- 
gregational Order. 



Yours most fraternally and affectionately, 
in the bonds of the Gospel of Christ, 

Joseph Shaw, Pastor of the | qj^^^^^^^ 
Church, Eed Lion Street, Boston, i 

Joseph Kuston, Treasurer. 
EKOS METCALJ, Pastor of the ) Secretary. 
Church, High Street, Lincoln, ) 

Tho:sias Dayey, Pastor of 
Boston, June 1st, 1865. Grove Street Church, Boston. 

REPET. 

Boston, U. S., February 14, 1866. 

The Pastors and Delegates of the National Council of Congregational 
Churches in the United States of America^ assembled in Boston^ in the 
State of Massachusetts, June 14, 1865, to the Independent Churches of 
the County of Lincoln, in England, Greeting: 

Dear Brethren, — 

It was a great gratification to the members of the ISTational Council of 
Congregational Churches assembled in this city, in June last, to receive 
from the " old Town of Boston," in England, from which the city of our 
own solemnities derived its name, a letter of Christian salutation and en- 
couragement from the Pastors and Delegates of the Independent Church- 
es of the County of Lincoln. 

If the undersigned, as a Committee of the Pastors and Delegates of our 
American Churches, to whom the pleasing duty of answering your "mes- 
sage of affection and sympathy " was assigned, have not returned an ear- 
lier reply, it has been on account of special circumstances in which the 
Chairman of the Committee has been placed, and not from any want of 
heartfelt thankfulness and joy, on the part of the Council and its Com- 
mittee, in receiving such an assurance of your affectionate interest in the 
objects and acts of your American brethren. 

The words of your message show that you fully sympathize with us 
in appreciating the blessings of Christian liberty inherent in our mu- 
tual forms of church go^'ernment; and that your minds expand with the 
benevolence and wisdom of the gospel of our common Lord, in compre- 



390 



REPLY. 



tending the momentous interests connected with our late national strug- 
gle for liberty and law. 

You have mourned with us over the loss, by assassination, of our late 
excellent President; you have felt and expressed the deep and grateful 
conviction that God has graciously made his death the occasion of good 
to our country ; you have, with the fervor we have long known to be glow- 
ing in the hearts of our Congregational brethren in England, rejoiced in 
the advancement of human freedom connected with our victory over re- 
bellion; and the widened field for the advancement of the gospel, in the 
forms of our mutual church polity, throughout our country, and in hea- 
then lands, opened by the blessed results of our late civil conflict. 

All these encouraging events, so wonderfully ordered by the good 
providence of G-od, amid the conflicts of human passion, you have rejoiced 
in with us. And, we are happy, and, we trust, grateful to God, as we 
assure you, that their increasing developments, since we had the pleasure 
of receiving your letter, have exhibited the loving-kindness of our heav- 
enly Father the more brightly to our eye of faith, and called the more 
loudly for corresponding works, on our part, to meet his mercies mth 
the action of our thanks. 

We are happy, also, in assuring you, that the results of the Council, 
since its session, have been cheering to our hearts; — that a fresh and in- 
creased interest has been awakened, throughout the Congregational 
Churches of our land, in the adaptation of our ecclesiastical system to 
our republican forms of National and State governments ; and that we 
are advancing, as one of the great Christian denominations, in gathering 
churches to shine as lights, and hold forth the word of life in all parts 
of it, — not forgetting the duty of striving to have the Word of God 
" sounded out " from us to " the regions beyond." 

At this time, there are very strong and encouraging indications that 
the special influences of the Holy Spirit of God are accompanying the 
means of grace used by the churches, and giving blessed promise of re- 
vivals of religion in many parts of our country. 

We take encouragement, also, from " the signs of the times," dear 
brethren, to hope confidently that we may rejoice together in the passing 
away from the iDolitical sky of those clouds which have made us, some- 
times, fear lest the tempest of war might break the harmony which has 
now, for so many years, existed between England and the United States. 
And we heartily congratulate you and ourselves in the pleasing pros- 
pect thus spread before us of yet closer ties of Christian love and fellow- 
ship, that we may, with one mind and one spirit, strive together for the 
faith of the gospel. 

Yours, dear brethren, most affectionately, 

in the gospel of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

George W. Blagdeit,^ 
Edward K. Kirk, >- Committee. 
Henry M. Dexter, ) 



CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE. 391 

Rev. Christopher Gushing, of Massachusetts, chairman of 
committee on a Congregational House, read the following re- 
port: 

REPOKT. 

First. The Desirableness of a Congregational House. "Without attempt- 
ing to present an exhaustive statement on this point, we would call at- 
tention to a few considerations. 

(1.) A Congregational House is rendered desirable by the necessities 
of the Congreg'ational Library. 

(a.) The American Congregational Association have already in their 
possession a library of over five thousand bound volumes, and over fifty 
thousand unbound pamphlets, many of them exceedingly rare, and most 
of them of great value as illustrative of Puritan history, and of the faith 
and polity of the Puritan churches. 

This library, as it is now situated, is liable any day to be consumed by 
fire ; and it is an imperative necessity, which as Congregationahsts we 
can not fail to appreciate, that this treasury of knowledge should have a 
safe place of deposit. 

(b.) There are many individuals who have carefully selected private 
libraries, or at least a few books, of special historic interest, and pamph- 
lets rescued from the paper-mill, that great foe to antiquarian researches, 
who would gladly contribute them to the American Congregational As- 
sociation, if a fire-proof building were furnished to guarantee their per- 
manent preservation. 

Thus, in a few years, this library could be made richer in ecclesiastical 
literatm-e than any other in our land. 

We owe it to our own denomination to provide a place where those 
who love our order, and possess relics of the fathers, may come and pre- 
sent their gifts. 

(2.) Again, a Congregational House is rendered desirable as the means 
of increasing our devotion to our own denomination. 

We all know, our Western brethren feel, that we have not properly 
discriminated between sectarian zeal and denominational interest. In 
avoiding the former, we have neglected the latter. The American Con- 
gregational Association desires, by procuring essays and lectures on 
questions of a denominational character, to promote our appreciation, as 
a branch of the Church of Christ, of our distinctive peculiarities ; and 
they would be greatly aided in this work by a house in which such es- 
says may be read and lectures delivered. 

(3.) We need a place where those societies which are doling the work 
of our denomination may have their centers of operations, whether they 
make provision for the feeble churches, publish theological works for 
ministers, Sabbath-school books for children, or tracts for the congrega.- 
tions. 

(4.) We need a home to which, as Congregationahsts, we may resort. 

This city, as the home of our fathers, is endeared to us by the most 



392 CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE. 

sacred associations — the most hallowed memories. It is on this account 
that we are convened here on the present momentous occasion. 

We need a home here to which we can repair, not as a Council once in 
a century, but as individual members of the Congregational family, as 
often as God in his providence shall favor us with the opportunity. 

Such a home will give " a local habitation " to what might otherwise 
have only " a name." It will serve to promote union among the churches 
of our order in this city, and thus strengthen the denomination where it 
was first established. It will give fresh interest to our anniversaries. It 
will also promote union between the East and West. It will enable the 
sons of the Pilgrims, the adopted sons, and the sons-in-law, when they 
come from their distant homes, to rekindle the torch at the old fireside, 
and bear forth its light to any Egyptian provinces where they may be 
■called to sojourn. 

It may, in this connection, be well to call to mind that the erection of 
such an edifice by us will be nothing peculiar. 

The Presbyterians, of both assemblies, have such houses in Philadel- 
phia; the Methodists in JSTew York; and our Congregational brethren in 
England have just raised by subscription two hundred thousand pounds 
sterling, as their bi-centennial fund, out of which, among other objects 
important to their denomination, they propose to erect such a building, 
for purposes similar to those which we contemplate, with the title of the 
" Memorial Hall." It will be a happy circumstance if we can have such 
a memorial, not only of the Fathers, but of the meeting of our present 
i^ational Council. 

Second. The Agency for the erection of a Congregational House. 

We have no occasion for any new organization. The American Con- 
gregational Association, incorporated in 1854, under the title of the Con- 
gregational Library Association, which name was changed in 1864, is 
authorized to hold property to the amount of $300,000, and " to do such 
acts as may promote the interest of Congregational churches, by publish- 
ing works, by furnishing libraries and pecuniary aid to parishes, church- 
es, and Sabbath schools, by promoting friendly intercourse and co-op- 
eration among Congregational ministers and churches, and with other 
denominations, and by collecting and disbursing funds for the above ob- 
jects." 

This society, already in the field, is everything, so far as respects an 
agency to secure a Congregational House, which could be desired. 

Third. What has already been accomplished. 

The American Congregational Association have at the present time 
property in real estate to the amount of about $10,000, and have recently 
secured a subscription of $20,000 in Boston and vicinity toward the erec- 
tion of a Congregational House; and such is the facility with which this 
has been accomplished, that the conviction is expressed that it will not 
be diflScult to secure an increase of this subscription, in this city and 
vicinity, to $50,000. 

Fourth. Tlie plan proposed. 

It is thought that $100,000 will be needed for this object, and it is sug- 



CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE. 393 

gested that, should the subscription in this city and vicinity be increased 
to $50,000, the remaining $50,000 should be secured chiefly from Massa- 
chusetts, or at least New England. 

Fifth. Objections. 

(1.) It may be objected to this proposition that the raising of this 
amount of money for this object will interfere with the raising of the 
$750,000 already proposed for other objects. To which we reply, that 
the raising of the $750,000 proposed is not so formidable as at first ap- 
pears, for we have been accustomed to raise large sums for the Ameri- 
can Home Missionary Society and the American Missionary Association, 
and something also for the American Congregational Union. And the 
past year we have raised a very large amount for the Freedmen; and as 
the $750,000 includes the objects of all these societies, the portion of the 
$750,000 which is over and above what we have been accustomed to raise ^ 
is not appalling. 

Again,' as the Congregational House is designed to conserve and foster 
an interest in our own denomination, its erection will be the means of 
rendering it easier in the end to raise money for other denominational 
purposes. 

(2.) It may be objected that the existence of such a house will involve 
continued annual expenses ; but this it is estimated will be met in part, 
or entirely, by the rents which such a building will yield. With the un- 
derstanding that the money shall be raised chiefly from persons in 'New 
England, and particularly in Massachusetts, who are able to contribute 
large sums, and that the Congregational House shall not be a " House of 
Bishoi3s," nor the source of a centralized power for the control of Con- 
gregational bishops or churches, but a home for all the brethren, to form 
or renew acquaintance, promote Christian fellowship, and the interests 
of the great denominational family to which we belong, we commend the 
American Congregational Association and its enterprises to the confi- 
dence and co-operation of our churches. 

(Signed) Chkistopher Cushing, 

Emerson Dayis, 
e. russele, 
s. d. cochrak, 
S. G. Wright, 
Walter Booth, 

Boston, June 21, 1865. 

The report was accepted. 

Rev. Dr. A:n"Derso:n', of Massachusetts. I have no such special connec- 
tion with this enterprise as involves the duty of addressing this body; but 
it seems desirable that a few things should be said in relation to it, that 
the body may feel prepared to give their sanction to the enterprise. It has 
been suggested to me that there are some persons who feel that the sum 
desired for erecting this building, and putting it into working condition, 
would be so much taken out of the amount otherwise to be contributed 
to the funds of the Council. In my opinion the reverse is the fact; and 



V Committee, 



394 CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE. 

this portion of your enterprise is just wliat we need here to develop the 
spirit of Congregationalism among our churches in the East, and espe- 
cially in this city and vicinity. 

I have felt that we have not realized at all the importance of the de- 
nomination to which we belong, not only in New England but all over 
the country, not as a sect, but as a portion of Christ's visible kingdom. 
I have had in view for a number of years the object contemplated by 
this enterprise; to wit: something in Boston to bring forth the spirit of 
our churches, and make us feel that it is important for us to extend the 
denomination over the far West, and now, if may be, over the far South. 
I can not think of any one thing that is so likely to accomplish the object 
as this particular enterprise, so ably brought before us by this report 
that I need not go into the subject in detail. 

We had in this city, not long since, a meeting of merchants, the larg- 
est and best meeting of merchants for an object that contemplated a sub- 
scription, that I have seen in this city for twenty years past or more. 
We brought the proposition before them to raise $50,000, which was as 
much as we thought it would do to ask for an object not fully compre- 
hended. But the enthusiasm of the meeting was such, based upon a 
clear understanding of the facts brought before them, that it was thought 
best that we should aim at raising $100,000, in order to obtain a building 
adapted to our purpose. Toward that amount five merchants have sub- 
scribed $2,500 each, with the understanding that it shall be payable as 
soon as $50,000 have been pledged. Another gentleman in the interior 
sent us $2,000; and I have no doubt at all, as he is a member of this 
Council, that, if necessary, he will add to that sum. Others are ready to 
contribute $1,000, and others $500. There has been no object proposed 
in Boston for a long time in the importance of which rehgious men have 
been so united as in this. 

We have obtained from the legislature the power of holding $300,000, 
in property; which will include all that is needful to carry out the ob- 
jects as they are contemplated by the directors. 

I do not think it necessary for me to go further into the subject, as 
there are others, living in other parts of the country, who will say some- 
thing upon it. I will close by stating my own conviction that our West- 
ern brethren, by giving their sanction to this enterprise, are doing the 
best thing they can to raise a working power which will bring to them 
more than half a million dollars in a very few years. I rejoice that the 
American Congregational Union have been authorized to raise $200,000 
for the building of churches. New York is our great commercial center, 
and that is the best place, I have no doubt at all, for that society to op- 
erate in; but Boston is the place for the Library, and Boston is the place 
from which to issue Congregational literature; and this society, which 
does not contemplate to become a purchasing institution, would be the 
best to advise Sabbath schools and churches of our denomination 
throughout the country what are the best books for them to purchase. 

Eev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio. The Senior Secretary of the American 
Board, who is known to many of us to have taken a very deep interest 



CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE. 395 

in the subject, and to have devoted a great deal of time, and thought, and 
solicitude to it, before rising, appealed to me, as the representative of 
the Western Conference, to confirm, if I could, by a word or two, his 
impression respecting the sympathy, or rather, the identity, of the inter- 
est between the AYest and the East with regard to this subject. I do this 
with the greatest pleasure. I regard this as one of the most important 
practical suggestions which has been brought before this Council. I do 
not deem it an exaggeration to say that the success of this project is es- 
sential to the full success of every other measure which has been pro- 
posed here. 

Kow, sir, with reference to the "West. While our faith and polity 
have, during the last thirty years, made wonderful progress, we have not 
yet, in many localities, obtained that social vantage ground which is oc- 
cupied here. We are overshadowed by churches of another denomina- 
tion that have drawn their strength from ISTew England, made up mainly 
of emigrants from iSTew England, and their descendants, sons and daugh- 
ters of the Pilgrims, and of the Puritan faith and polity. Some of our 
own churches, comprised of those who have adhered to our polity, which 
is as well adaj)ted to the West as to the East, and is as much needed at 
the West as at the East, are overshadowed by the older churches; while 
others have become as strong as they. Others are becoming stronger, 
and amid great difficulty and discouragement are attempting to hold up 
the banner for Christ that it may be displayed for the truth. 

These churches first of all lift their eyes to the eternal hills whence 
Cometh their help ; but they do also lift their eyes occasionally to the 
hills of 'New England, the monument of our polity combined with evan- 
gelical faith; and it strengthens and cheers us to be able to turn to Xew 
England as a specimen of what such a faith and such a polity, under 
God, can accomplish. 

The Western delegates to this Council have come up here, able andv 
strong ; and it was a special pleasure to them to meet in this ]Srational 
Council, because it was to meet in this home of our youth, in this Jeru- 
salem of our Congregational Israel, which is free and gendereth not to 
bondage. I find that a large number of my brothers in the West have 
never visited Boston before ; and it does them good to walk about, 
seeing how tall are her towers, to mark her bulwarks, and consider her 
palaces, that they may tell to the present as well as to the following gen- 
eration who are to people the broad West in the future, where must be 
derived so largely the strength of our churches. 

I believe that the interest which is felt in this cause by the churches of 
the West, is fully as great as that which is felt in the East, and that they 
will gladly respond to this proposition, and, according to their ability, 
will cheerfully subscribe. I hope some steps will be initiated before the 
Council shall dissolve, by which the suggestions of this able paper shall 
be realized, and that a subscription paper will be started here which will 
give us some reasonable assurance that, in the good providence of God, 
the object here proposed will be accomplished. 

Eev. A. P. Marvin, of Massachusetts. This is a subject in which I 



396 CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE. 

have felt the deepest interest from the ■beginning. Living as I do some 
seventy miles from the city, I have never been able to be present at any of 
the meetings of the Association ; but I have found no man here who has felt 
more interest than I in that subject. I never had an opportunity to con- 
sult with any person about it except the late most excellent and lamented 
Rev. Joseph Clark. When I saw such a meeting called, my first im- 
pulse was to come here, simply from the interest I felt in it ; but know- 
ing that I could do nothing to aid the movement, I concluded to stay at 
home. I am glad now to be able to be here. I only regret that the sum 
has been put at $100,000 ; for I do not see how the object can be accom- 
plished, as it should be, for $100,000. Perhaps the business men here 
can understand that. They may hope, from the rents of the building, 
to be able to do what is necessary ; but for a building so large, and ar- 
chitecturally so beautiful as I desire, it seems to me that $100,000 will 
not be enough. 

I wish to speak only on one point, the relation of this institution to 
our history ; not only to Congregational history, but to 'New England 
history. I believe this point has not yet been touched upon. Brethren 
who have not turned their attention to it, may wonder what good this is 
going to do ; how a hbrary and a great collection of manuscripts in Bos- 
ton will be of any use to all the churches between here and Oregon. I 
suppose if there is any information gathered here, it will be easy to com- 
municate it. This will be the center where all the facts of our history 
will be stored up ; and we shall have a librarian who can answer any 
question with regard to it, upon any topic which may be interesting con- 
nected with our history, or our polity, and our local as well as our gen- 
eral history. 

You know we have been, I was about to say, " damned like Crom- 
well to everlasting fame," almost infamy, in a certain sort of literature 
^current in England, and beginning to be in this country. The fact is, 
that our forefathers, and the friends of our forefathers in England, were 
all covered over and blackened by the poets and letter-writers in Eng- 
land ; and it is only in recent days that we have been getting this black 
rubbed off, so that we begin to shine out and to be understood by the 
world. We have ourselves men rising up, poets, novelists, editors, ly- 
ceum lecturers, ready to throw out their slanders and their misrepresent- 
ations of the character and history of our ancestors. I want simply to 
collect the facts and have them ready to answer all these misrepre- 
sentations. 

One of the designs of Mr. Clark was this very thing. He said there 
were continual misrepresentations going out, of writers in Boston, or 
Massachusetts, or other parts of the country, which could be corrected 
by the facts which we were beginning to collect. I recollect the remark 
of one formerly noted lyceum lecturer, who said, " Yes, the Puritans 
were a noble people ; but I am glad they lived 200 years before I did." 
He was full of prejudice, from his want of knowledge of the history of 
New England. Mr. Palfrey has done a great thing for us, as well as for 
himself, in his candid and noble history. But if we can have a library 



CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE. 397 

here, and a suitable ■building properly conducted, and a librarian who 
understands his duties, and who is not merely a custodian of books, it 
will change the current of opinion, and will do very much to make our 
name honored, as it only needs to be known to be honored ; and our 
brethren and friends, and our posterity, in the West and in the South, 
will be proud of the name of their ancestors. 

Rev. Mr. Quint, from the committee on Business, stated that 
the committee on the Declaration of Faith were prepared to 
report. 

On motion of Hon. Mr. Hammond, of Illinois, 

the report was made the special order for 12 o'clock. 

Half an hour was then spent in devotional exercises, prayer 
being offered by Rev. Dr. Dutton, a hymn being sung, and re- 
marks being offered by Rev. Dr. Kirk, of Massachusetts, Rev. 
G. S. F. Savage, of Illinois, Dea. Charles Stoddard, of Massa- 
chusetts, Rev. Dr. Adams, of Maine, Rev. Dr. Sturtevant, of 
Illinois, Rev. Dr. Gates, of Iowa, and others. 

The Council then resumed the consideration of the report of 
the committee on a Congregational House. 

Hon. Mr. Hajnimond, of Illinois. I wish to say a word or two m refer- 
ence to this report, and perhaps my remarks may be a little wider than 
the report. I very much approve of this building in Boston, and wish it 
had been done long ago. I think it ought to have been done ; and that it 
would have been done, if the ministry of JSTew England had preached to 
their people on the subject of their pohty as much as they ought. I think 
if the people of Kew England, with all her money, and intelligence, and 
refinement, had been made, by the watchmen upon the walls, to under- 
stand the value of their church polity, they would have poured out their 
money and built the house, and we should Lave had that home. Still more, 
if we had had that home, as the result of that conviction, the polity would 
have been carried to the West by those who have come there, and they 
would have hved by it; whereas, in the town I came from, the larger 
number of our Presbyterian ministers came from the Congregational 
ministry of 'New England. Instead of their being the most efficient lead- 
ers of the Presbyterian church, we should have had them to assist us. 
When we have had but a little band, in want of sympathy as we have 
been, I have thought, " Oh, that the people of New England loved their 
polity, and would teach it to their children, and teach them to love it! " 
I am sure that if New England — rich in money, thought, and education, 
and all that makes Kew England glorious — loved this policy as they 
ought, and had been taught it as they ought, they would long ago have 
built this house. 

I have been distressed since I came to this Council, and before I came 
here, by the fear that we should separate and only skirmish round about, 



398 CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE. 

and not come to meet the enemy face to face and conquer. What have 
we to do? What did we come here for, Christian fathers and brethren? 
Did not we come here for the purpose of devising ways and means by 
which to enlist a thousand men, and by which to equip and drill a thou- 
sand men, and to furnish the commissariat for a thousand men or more 
'to go forth and bear the glad tidings of the gospel to those regions in 
which there is now so much desolation? Is there before us anything else 
so important as to determine how to raise these men, how they are to be 
equipped, drilled, and supported in carrying forward this holy war? If 
there is anything else so important, I will sit right down and let any 
brother state what it is. No ; there is nothing else. 

The fact is patent to every one of us, that the reason why the gospel 
does not extend wider and farther, and does not bring more to its sup- 
port, is that its privileges are not sufficiently appreciated; it is because 
we undervalue the gospel. Do you not know that some persons, who 
profess to be godly men, say there is such a thing as paying too much 
for the gospel; and they can not afford to part with so much of their 
money as they are called upon to do, to support the gospel? Let me tell 
you that, whatever it costs to support the gospel, it costs a great deal 
more not to do it. I have seen that as a business man, in the different 
towns which have grown up alongside of each other in the West. I have 
seen one town planted upon a whiskey-barrel, and another planted upon 
the gospel of our Saviour. Commencing with the same advantages, the 
one has become a light to all around, while the other has gone out in 
darkn^s. This is true, and will always be true. 

]S"ow, what is the reason that there is such an undervaluing of the gos- 
pel? I verily believe that the gospel is undervalued quite as much by 
the ministry as by laymen. How many of the ministry — the reverend 
fathers before me, and those we have left behind — are willing to come 
up to the laymen, and tell them that no farther than they consecrate their 
property to God have they the means of grace? How many will tell 
them that never, until it is all sacrificed, have they the evidence that they 
are Christians? How often do you hear faithful sermons to rich men? 
How often are we laymen, who are so apt to be covered up in the world, 
and buried in the care of the dollars and cents, met by one who will look 
us square in the face and tell us to consecrate all to God? How often 
are we told that the only privilege is to hold so much property as is 
necessary in the performance of the duties of our calHng or profession? 
One man may be a merchant, requiring a capital of $500,000; another 
may require $50,000, and another $5,000; another may be a manufac- 
turer, and God only knows how much he needs. But he knows, and 
God knows, how much income he should reserve. And he knows, or 
ought to know, — and if he does not know it, you ought to tell him, — that 
he owes all that he makes over and above the necessary support of his 
family, and laying up sufficient to educate his children, and what is neces- 
sary to keep up the tools of his profession, as the library of the lawyer, 
to God. Do you believe that if you talked thus, with all the earnestness 
with which you ought to teach us, we should want for $750,000? Do 



CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE. 399 

you believe we should want for the money which is necessary to raise 
and educate these men, to establish these schools and colleges, and to 
carry out these great objects which must be accomplished, or we shall 
sink with a weight of guilt upon us which no one can estimate? He who 
reads the Bible is taught to consecrate himself and all he has to God. 

I know some of you say, AYe must not talk about money to our peo- 
ple. You do not estimate the laymen aright. They require this teach- 
ing above all things. They are, for six days in the week, wrapped up in 
their business, and are very likely to overestimate the value of the good 
things of this world. If you only speak to us about faith, and patience, 
and hope, and justification, and these glorious truths; if you say nothing 
about the particular duty of daily consecration of all that we can make, 
aside from what I have said may properly be excepted, do you believe 
the brethren will be ready to consecrate this money to God? It is not 
so. God has ordained that by the foolishness of preaching he will save 
those that believe; that by the foolishness of preaching he will prepare 
us for salvation; that by the foolishness of preaching he will instruct us 
in our duty and bring us up to it. 

How difficult it is for a man to know, and then to be brought up to his 
duty! You know you can not bring us up to this, unless we see your 
soul in it; unless we see you so determined to do it, that you will not be 
afraid to offend a rich man because he is covetous. That sin of covetous- 
ness, — O Lord, deliver us from it! If we could but be delivered from 
that, we should want but a very few moments so to arrange our plans as 
to be sure of extending the gospel of God. When we reach the practical 
sacrifice of consecrating all to God, then we may be assured that the 
glory of God and the extension of his kingdom is secured through this 
broad land — yea, throughout the world. [Applause.] 

Hon. Mr. Douglas, of Connecticut. Some of us had the pleasure and 
gratification yesterday of visiting the old consecrated ground at Plymouth, 
and the oiDportunity of looking on what our immediate fathers have done 
toward laying the foundation there of memorials of those goodly men. 
There we saw the foundations of an immense monument to the memory 
of our Pilgrim fathers. We saw the foundation also for another over 
that holy rock, — that sacred spot where first they placed their feet. A 
canopy is to be erected to protect that from the wearing drops of the 
storms of heaven, and from ruthless hands that might endeavor to gather 
fragments from that precious rock to carry to their several homes to look 
upon. The grand forethought of our immediate fathers and friends in 
laying these foundations to preserve these sacred relics, and in the erec- 
tion of Plymouth Hall for the preservation of the memorials handled by 
our godlj'- fathers, which to look upon did our hearts good, may well be 
imitated by us to-day. If it strengthened us to see things which our 
fathers looked upon and handled, is not the same thing true of our old 
Congregational church, especially here in this Puritan city, its early 
foundation? Shall we not put up some monument here to commemorate 
their labors, their prayers, their tears ; — something that our children in 
future time, as they come to this business mart, may look upon, to see 



400 CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE. 

what their fathers did to preserve the memory of their church? Shall 
we not erect here the monument of the Congregational church here 
founded, so near the old rock upon which our fathers landed? 

I think we have neglected these things far too much. The Congrega- 
tional church has been truly a pioneer church. We have marched our 
armies through the fields, over the territory, conquering city after city ; 
hut we have failed to garrison the cities as we have gone through. 
"What would have been thought of Sherman, if, in his triumphal march, 
he had marched from city to city and failed to garrison them? "We must 
garrison the cities, not against other sects of orthodox persuasion, but 
against the enemies of Christ's kingdom. I think the best way to garri- 
son this old city of our fathers is to erect here a memorial building for 
our children to look upon. 

I think, with the gentleman who has just spoken, that our clerical 
friends have been too tender-hearted in this matter, too mealy-mouthed, 
too afraid to ask us — the laity — to contribute to these objects. It has 
been often spoken of among the laity, that upon this matter of calling 
for contributions the clergymen are backward; that they are afraid of 
hearing what has been called the " Judas jingle " in our churches. I like 
to hear it. There is nothing which does me so much good as to hear the 
church-plates go round. Do not be too mealy-mouthed; pass round the 
plates, and we will give the money. 

Hon. Mr. Barstow, of Ehode Island. I wish for a little light before I 
vote for this. I should hke to be informed of the number of the corpora- 
tors, and their locality, and whether the matter is perfectly guarded, so 
that we may be sure that this building will represent our polity in future 
generations. We have seen such things slip out sometimes. 

Eev, Mr. Quint, of Massachusetts. The association, although incorpo- 
rated by the Legislature of Massachusetts, is composed of members of 
Orthodox Congregational churches without regard to locality, each paying 
one dollar or more into its treasury, and thus becoming a life-member. 
The number of corporators, therefore, is the whole number of those church 
members, who choose to become such by the payment of one dollar. 
There is an annual meeting held in Boston at the time of the anniversa- 
ries in May. The list of officers will show the names of those connected 
with it. The officers are elected annually by ballot. 

Hon. Mr. Barstow. I think the corporation is too open, if the pay- 
ment of one dollar makes a man a member for life. !N"o matter what his. 
change of faith may be, he is still a voting member. 

Eev. Mr. Dexter, of Massachusetts. That is guarded against. He 
must be and remain a member in good and regular standing in an Ortho- 
dox Congregational church, or he can not vote. 

The report was adopted. 

DECLARATION OP FAITH. 

The hour of 12 o'clock having arrived, 

Eev. Dr. Stearns, on behalf of the committee to revise the language 



/ 



DECLARATION OF FAITH. 



401 



of the Declaration of Faitli, said: Your committee have confined them- 
selves strictly to the duty intrusted to them. They have not attempted 
to introduce any new matter vrhatever, or to modify any old matter, so 
as surreptitiously or by any possibility to introduce new matter which 
was exceptionable. Kor upon a review of this document did they desire, 
all things considered, to introduce anything of that kind. They confined 
themselves simply to modifications of language, regarding somewhat 
euphony, but more especially perspicuity, in order that the sentiments 
here expressed may go out intelligently and satisfactorily — so far as the 
document itself is satisfactory — to all. 

In paragraph 1, substitute "declare" for "reiterate"; " substantially as embodied," 
instead of "as substantiallj^ embodied " ; strike out "as" after "primitive churches." 
In the sentence commencing " We bless the God of our fathers," make it read " We bless 
God for," etc., and strike out all after " doctrines." 

In paragraph 2, after " the state," insert " and." 

In paragraph 6, change "But" to "Thus" for the first word; and read "should 
agree," instead of " may agree." 

In paragraph 7, before " are justified," substitute " believers in him " for " we " ;. after 
" before God," strike out " and " ; after " remission of sins, and," strike out " that it is" ; 
after " Comforter," strike out " alone that we," then substitute " are " for " hope to be " ; 
and strike out " to be " before " perfected." 

In paragraph 8, substitute " the " for "an" before "organized." 

In paragraph 9, strike out " originallj^." 

Rev. Dr. Stearns then read the revised Declaration of Faith, 
as follows : 

Standing by the rock where the Pilgrims set foot upon these shores, 
upon the spot where they worshiped God, and among the graves of the 
early generations, we. Elders and Messengers of the Congregational 
churches of the United States in National Council assembled — hke them 
acknowledging no rule of faith but the word of God — do now declare 
our adherence to the faith and order of the apostolic and primitive 
churches held by our fathers, and substantially as embodied in the con- 
fessions and platforms which our Synods of 1648 and 1680 set forth or 
reaffirmed. ^Ye declare that the experience of the nearly two and a half 
centuries which have elapsed since the memorable day when our sires 
founded here a Christian Commonwealth, with all the development of new 
forms of error since their time&, has only deepened our confidence in the 
faith and polity of those fathers. We bless God for the inheritance of 
these doctrines. We invoke the help of the Divine Kedeemer, that, 
through the presence of the promised Comforter, he will enable us to 
transmit them in purity to our children. 

In the times that are before us as a nation, times at once of duty and 
of danger, we rest all our hope in the gospel of the Son of God. It was 
the grand peculiarity of our Puritan Fathers, that they held this gospel, 
not merely as the ground of their personal salvation, but as declaring 
the worth of man by the incarnation and sacrifice of the Son of God; and 
therefore appHed its principles to elevate society, to regulate education, 
. to civilize humanity, to purify law, to reform the Church and the State, 

26 



402 DECLARATION OF FAITH. 

and to assert and defend liberty; in short, to mold and redeem, by its 
all-transforming energy, everything that belongs to man in his individual 
and social relations. 

It was the faith of our fathers that gave us this free land in which we 
dwell. It is by this faith only that we can transmit to our children a free 
and hapjDy, because a Christian, commonwealth. 

We hold it to be a distinctive excellence of our Congregational system, 
that it exalts that which is more above that which is less, important, and, 
by the simphcity of its organization, facilitates, in communities where 
the population is limited, the union of all true believers in one Christian 
church; and that the division of such communities into several weak and 
jealous societies, holding the same common faith, is a sin against the 
unity of the body of Christ, and at once the shame and scandal of Chris- 
tendom. 

We rejoice that, through the influence of our free system of apostolic 
order, we can hold fellowshi]) with all who acknowledge Christ, and act 
efficiently in the work of restoring unity to the divided Church, and of 
bringing back harmony and peace among all "who love our Lord Jesus 
Christ in sincerity." 

Thus recognizing the unity of the Church of Christ in all the world, 
and knowing that we are but one bran'ch of Christ's people, while adher- 
ing to our peculiar faith and order, we extend to all believers the hand 
of Christian fellowship upon the basis of those great fundamental truths 
in which all Christians should agree. With them we confess our faith in 
God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; in Jesus Christ, the in- 
carnate Word, who is exalted to be our Redeemer and King; and in the 
Holy Comforter, who is present in the Church to regenerate and sanctify 
the soul. 

With the whole Church, we confess the common sinfulness and ruin of 
our race, and acknowledge that it is only through the work accomj)lished 
by the life and expiatory death of Christ that behevers in him are justi- 
fied before God, receive the remission of sins, and through the presence 
and grace of the Holy Comforter are delivered from the power of sin, 
and perfected in holiness. 

We believe also in the organized and visible Church, in the ministry 
of the Word, in the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, in the 
resurrection of the body, and in the final judgment, the issues of which 
are eternal life and everlasting punishment. 

We receive these truths on the testimony of God, given through i^roph- 
ets and apostles, and in the fife, the miracles, the death, the resurrection, 
of his Son, our Divine Eedeemer — a testimony preserved for the Church 
in the Scriptures of the Old and JSTew Testaments, which were comi^osed 
by holy men as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 

Affirming now our belief that those who thus hold "one faith, one 
Lord, one, baptism," together constitute the one catholic Church, the sev- 
eral households of which, though called by different names, are the one 
body of Christ, and that these members of his body are sacredly bound 
to keep " the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace," we declare that 



DECLARATION OF FAITH. 403 

we will co-operate with all who hold these truths. With them we will 
carry the gospel into every part of this land, and with them we will go 
into all the world, and " preach the gospel to every creature." May He 
to whom " all power is given in heaven and earth " fuMll the promise 
which is all our hope: " Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the 
world." Amen. 

Eev. Prof. Poeter, of Connecticut. I move that the report be adopted. 
I was somewhat disturbed, I must confess, at the proposition that the re- 
port should be passed so suddenly yesterday morning. The reason why 
I was disturbed was this. When I came to this body, and especially, 
when I became acquainted with the committee to whom was entrusted 
the preparation of this document, I felt it to be my Christian and sacred 
duty to prepare a document which would represent every phase of faith 
held by members of this Council in such language as they could con- 
scientiously accept, and in such form that they could cordially unite in 
putting it forth as a confession of their united and common faith. I felt 
sacreaiy bound to act truly and faithfully in the interest of every phase 
of doctrine here represented. Under the pressure of this acknowledged 
duty, all the committee acted in presenting their report, the -result of 
three days' deliberation. They were so happy as to find that the report 
was generally and cordially accepted. 

A certain portion of the assembly, however, objected to two or three 
paragraphs, in which the name of that most eminent reformer and theo- 
logian, John Calvin, occurs, whom we are proud to honor as one of the 
ablest theologians and noblest thinkers that Christendom has ever pro- 
duced. [Applause.] In the objection, however, to the introduction of 
that name, both representative wings of doctrine united. Those who held 
to the exti-eme forms of Calvinism, and some individuals more Calvinistic 
than Calvin himself, objected to the introduction of any human name. 

When, then, it was found the next morning, that the proposition to 
pass at once a modified report was to be acted upon, I felt hurt, pained, 
disturbed, grieved; for I feared that a portion of the Council — that por- 
tion which may be said to be most strenuous for the characters and the 
names of the fathers — might feel that their rights were not respected. 
For that reason I interposed my objection. 

I was afterwards so happy as to learn that the whole project originated 
in the brain of an individual who represents that phase, if he represents 
any school, — the suggestion of a happy or unha^Dpy inspiration, — and 
that it did not originate with any of those who might be supposed to 
tend in a looser direction. The knowledge of that fact removes all my 
objection to passing the document as modified. I am now prepared to 
vote for it, and think we are all as well prepared to vote for it now as we 
shall be after two days of discussion. [Applause.] 

Eev. Dr. Barstow, of ISTew Hampshire. What is the meaning of the 
expression, "all who acknowledge Christ"? 

Eev. Dr. Adams, of Maine. Is it proper for the committee to make 
any explanation of the meaning of the report? 



404 DECLARATION OF FAITH. 

Rev. Dr. Barstow. A great many say they " acknowledge Christ," 
whom we do not acknowledge. 

Rev. Prof. Porter. We have professed Christ in a certain form, and 
we say that we can hold fellowship with all who acknowledge Christ in 
this way. 

Rev. Dr. Barstow. Say that, and we will go for it. 

Rev. Prof. Porter. That is implied. It was intended to state our 
faith in the shortest and most devotional way. Let the critic whine and 
the objector cavil. Ko honest man will misunderstand the meaning of 
the Council. I stand upon my responsibility before all classes of theolo- 
gians in this Council, and before the Christian world, that there can be 
no misconstruction in language of this sort. 

Rev. Dr. Barstow. My object is answered, if this explanation goes 
out with the Declaration of Faith. 

Rev. Prof Porter. I think it will. We are here as a Council rep- 
resenting all phases of Christian doctrine', including those theologians 
irreverently called the " twice-baked crackers," and also if there be any 
like " cakes unturned," who need to be put into a theological seminary 
and baked again, we include them. We include representatives from the 
Eastern shore of Maine to the Western shore that is washed by the Pa- 
cific; and now from each beach let there go up in the face of heaven our 
united speech " We are one." [Prolonged applause.] 

Rev. Dr. Stone, of New Hampshire, moved to amend the clause 
confessing faith in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, 
in Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Comforter, so as to read, " we 
confess our faith in one only living and true God, consisting in 
God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Bliss, of Tennessee, the amendment 
was laid upon the table. 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Bliss, of Tennessee, it was ordered 
that there be no further debate upon this report. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Adams, of Maine, it was ordered that 
the Declaration of Faith be again read, that prayer be then of- 
fered, and the question be then taken upon the adoption, not 
only of the report, as to verbal amendments, but of the Decla- 
ration of Faith, as a whole, as reported by the committee this 
morning. 

The Declaration of Faith was accordingly again read, in a 
distinct and impressive manner, by Rev. Dr. Stearns. 

Prayer was offered by Rev. Dr. Palmer of New York. 

The vote was then taken by rising upon the adoption of the 
above Declaration of Faith, and it was adopted, nem. con. [Ap- 
plause.] 



CHURCH IN WASHINGTON. 



405 



At the suggestion of Rev. Prof. Porter, it was agreed to sing 
" My faith looks up to thee," to be followed, at the suggestion 
of Rev. Dr. Stearns, by the old doxology, " To G-od the Father, 
God the Son;" and, at the suggestion of Hon. Mr. Hammond, 
the Council rose while singing. 

The Council then took their usual recess until 3 o'clock 
p. M. 

ATTEKKOOK SESSIOK. 

The Council met at 3 o'clock. 

Rev. Mr. Quint, from the Business Committee, submitted 
some resolutions, without any recommendation, which were, on 
motion of Dr. Dutton, referred back to the committee, to be 
disposed of by them as they should think proper. 

Rev. Mr. Quint also submitted the following resolution, which 
was referred to the committee on the Erection of a Church in 
TTashington : 

Besolved, That this Council recommend, that from the amount raised 
for church building in central locahties at the South, a sum not exceeding 
850,000 be appropriated by the American Congregational Union, for 
the establishment of a Congregational church in the city of Washing- 
ton, D. C, provided that an amoimt equal to the sum appropriated by 
the American Congregational Union aforesaid be received from other 
sources. 

The following order was also submitted by the Business Com- 
mittee : 

Ordered, That a committee be appointed to report to this Council a 
brief paper on the subject of worship — not an order of worship — but 
worship both in public and jDrivate. 

Eev. A. P. Marvin, of Massachusetts. I will say to the Council that 
this does not propose the adoption of an order of worship, or a form of 
worship. It is no crotchet about altering our forms of worship, but simply 
worship; and it is brought in in consequence of a conversation with Dr. 
Kirk. As he has not brought it in, I have ; and if I may be allowed a 
suggestion, without interfering with the business of the nominating 
committee, I would suggest that Dr. Kirk be the Chairman of the Com- 
mittee. 

The order was adopted. 

The following resolution was also presented by Mr. Quint, in 
behalf of the Business Committee : 

Besolved, That as our Lord Jesus Christ always spoke openly, and 



406 AMERICAN CONGREGATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 

said nothing in secret, and is alone entitled to the unqualified faith of his 
followers, this Council hereby utters its solemn testimony against all 
secret associations which bind their members by extra-judicial oaths or 
obligations. 

The resolution was laid upon the table* 

Rev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. May I interrupt the reading of the 
report of the Committee on Business with one suggestion? Is it not time 
for us to instruct the Business Committee not to bring any new business 
before this Council? We may sit here longer than the Council of Trent, 
if we are to entertain every pet notion that anybody may choose to lay 
before that committee. 

Eev. Dr. Dutton, of Connecticut. I wish Dr. Bacon would modify 
the motion, so that the committee be empowered to use their discretion 
about submitting matters to this body. There may something come 
before them that the Council would like to act upon. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon. The order could be suspended, if anything extraor- 
dinary came up. But I would move that the Business Committee be 
instructed to present no new business. 

Rev. Dr. Dutton. We shall not save ourselves in that way. These 
matters will force themselves through the body, if we shut up the Busi- 
ness Committee in that way; but if we empower the Business Com- 
mittee to use their discretion, we shall have no new business that is not 
important. I move that amendment. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon accepted the amendment, and the motion, in 
that form, passed. 

Rev. Mr. Quint presented another resolution regarding rais- 
ing money, which, on motion of Rev. Dr. Holbrook, of New 
York, was referred to the committee already appointed on that 
subject. 

Mr. Quint also submitted the following resolution from the 
Business Committee, stating that it originated from the ques- 
tion raised in the morning whether unlimited membership was 
perfectly consistent with the security of the property of the 
American Congregational Association, and was prepared by 
Hon. Mr. Barstow, of Rhode Island. 

Whereas, this Council has recommended that the sum of $100,000 be 
raised for the purpose of erecting, in the city of Boston, a suitable build- 
ing for an American Congregational House, therefore, 

Besolved, That said association be requested to seek such change of 
its charter, or make such change in the 3d article of its Constitution, 
as shall better secure the property held thereby to those who represent 
our faith in coming generations. 



RESOLUTIONS. 



407 



Eev. Dr. Axdeesox, of Massachusetts. I would move that the name 
" Congregational House " be substituted for the phrase, " buildin'g erected 
for the Congregational Association." 

Rev. Dr. Bakstotv, of j^ew Hampshire. I hope that alteration will 
not be made. The name in the preamble is exactly what the Associa- 
tion bears; and, whatever name we give to the house, it will be controlled 
for ever by the Association to which we give the name. It is a house to 
be erected for the American Congregational Association. 

Rev, Dr. A:n"DEKSOK. I want to say that there are conveniences in 
having .the name retained, if you retain the other name. I would suggest 
that it read, " A Congregational House, for the use of the American Con- 
gregational Association." 

The amendment was adopted and the resoMtion passed. 
The Business Committee also submitted the following resolu- 
tions, which were referred to a special committee : — 

Besolved, That this Council desires to record its sense of the impor- 
tance of the worship of God's house, independently of the sermon, usu- 
ally and justly holding with us so conspicuous a place, while there is 
reason to apprehend sufficient attention is not always given to reading, 
prayer, and praise, with a view to make them, in the highest jDractical 
measure, attractive, awakening, and edifying. 

Besolved, That our mode of public worship, especially of prayer, — so 
plain and simple, but happily affording scope for the utmost variety of 
thought, and beautiful adaptation to the ever-changing experience of 
life, — should be conducted, not with reference to instruction, or asser- 
tion of doctrine, or notification to men of passing events, which is a 
degradation, but with a view pre-eminently to the producing of devout 
emotion, and the commingling of all hearts in one spirit of confession, 
supplication, and praise. 

Besolved, That we recommend to ministers to give much more atten- 
tion to this part of divine service, and to teachers in our theological 
seminaries to endeavor to impart a better preparation for this part of a 
minister's service. 

The following preamble and resolutions, also presented by 
the Business Committee, were referred to the committee on 
Devotional Exercises : — 

Wliereas, We, the members of the jSTational Council, recognize in our 
deliberations a degree of unanimity and cordiality which was hardly to 
be expected in view of the wide separation of our churches in space, and 
the diversity of experiences and influences under which they have been 
trained in the Providence of God. Therefore, 

Besolved, 1st, That we do hereby cordially and unanimously assert 
om- assent to the general course of action in this Council. 

2d. That we devoutly thank God for the evidence developed in this 



408 APPORTIONMENT COMMITTEE. 

assembly that we are harmonions in our views of the teachings of Grod's 
word, and the leadings of his providence in our times. 

3d. That before the close of this Council we will unite in the observ- 
ance of the Lord's Supper (at such time and in such manner as the com- 
mittee on Devotional Exercises may deem best), whereby we trust all 
our minds may be turned to Him who is the source of all our hopes and 
convictions as Christians, and all our hearts united in the love of our 
Saviour, the great Head of the Church. 

Mr. Quint stated that the Business Committee recommended 
that the session be extended until half-past six, in the hope that 
the business might be finished by to-morrow noon. The recom- 
mendation was adopted. 

Rev. Mr. Langworthy, from the Committee on Nominations, 
offered the following report : — 

COMMITTEE ON THE APPORTIONMENT OF THE 1750,000. 

New Yorlc. — Deacon Samuel Holmes, Eev. John C. Holbrook, D. D., 
Rev. L. Smith Hobart. 

Maine. — Charles A. Lord, Rev. Uriah Balkam, Rev. Seth H. 
Keeler, d. d. 

New Hampshire. — Rev. Alvan Tobey, Rev. Henry E. Parker, Hon. 
Thomas J. Melvin. 

Vermont. — Rev. Lewis O. Brastow, Rev. George P. Tyler, Hon. Ira 
Goodhue. 

Massachusetts. — Rev. Ariel E. P. Perkins, Hon. Allen W. Dodge, 
Marshall S. Scudder. 

Connecticut. — Rev. Davis S. Brainerd, Rev. Hiram P. Arms, D. D., 
Deacon George W. Shelton. 

Bhode Island. — Hon. Amos C. Barstow. 

New Jersey. — Lowell Mason, Jr. 

Pennsylvania. — Rev. Edward Hawes. 

Delaware. — Deacon Abner H. Bryant. 

Maryland. — N'athaniel ISToyes. 

Ohio. — Rev. Thomas Wickes, D. D., Rev. John C. Hart. 

Tennessee. — Rev. Thomas E. Bliss. 

Indiana. — Deacon A. G. Willard. 

.Illinois. — Rev. Richard C. Dunn, Rev. William Carter. 

Michigan. — Rev. Herbert A. Read, Rev. Hiram Elmer. 

Wisconsin. — Rev. Edward G. Miner, Rev. Isaac K. Cundall. 

Iowa. — Rev. Jesse Guernsey, Seth Richards. 

Minnesota. — Rev. Charles Seccombe. 

Missouri. — Rev. Julian M. Sturtevant, Jr. 

Kansas. — "William H. Watson. 

Nebraska Territory. — Rev. Reuben Gaylord. 

Colorado. — Rev. William Crawford. 

California. — Jacob Bacon. 

Oregon. — Rev. George H. Atkinson. 



APPORTIONMENT COMMITTEE. 409 

COMMITTEE ON PKAYER AND FASTING. 

Eev. Leonard Swain, D. D., K. I.; Eev. Geo. A. Oviatt, Conn.; Eev. 
Erastus Maltby, Mass. 

Eev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. I want to ask what the first of 
these committees is for ? 

Eev. Mr. Langtvokthy. I was not present, and, so far as I can learn, 
neither of my colleagues were, when this committee was ordered. 

Eev. Dr. Dutton, of Connecticut. It was to apportion the $750,000. 

Eev. Dr. Bacon. If that is the meaning of it, I say the raising of 
the 8750,000 becomes an impossibility the moment it is attemj)ted in 
that way. 

Eev. Dr. Thompson, of Xew York. I would ask if we have not just 
now passed a resolution covering that whole ground, and defining that 
that was not an amendment, but a reconsideration ? 

Eev. Dr. Holbkook, of Xew York. I understand this committee to 
be a committee to devise ways and means for raising the S750,000. 

Eev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. I understand that the idea is (and 
if I am wrong, I desire to be corrected), to assess, in the form of a 
recommendation, the $750,000 among the several States. .That being 
the motion before us, to appoint a committee who shall consider that 
method of raising money, I want to say that, supposing a programme 
comes out, saying, specifically, that the churches in Massachusetts should 
pay a certain portion of it, and the churches in the State of Cahfornia 
pay a certain portion, and the one church in the State of Delaware pay 
a certain portion, if the one church in the State of Delaware don't pay 
that ijortion, it never will be paid; and if the churches in California 
don't pay their portion, no other State will make it up; for the utmost 
that you can expect, when you make such an assessment, is that any 
church or State on which a certain amount is apportioned, will raise that 
amount. A good many will inevitably fail to make u^d their ]3art, and it 
will be impossible to secure the $750,000. The only way of raising the 
money is to appeal to the universal sympathy, love, charity, and zeal of 
the whole body of om- churches. 

Rev. Dr. Thompson, of New York, raised the point of order 
that the Council had already voted to appoint a committee to 
consider this subject, and that the committee just nominated by 
the Nominating Committee was the committee thus ordered, 
and the chair so ruled. The report of the committee was then 
adopted. 

Rev. Dr. Dutton, from the Committee on Evangelization at 
the South and West, reported, in reference to a church in Balti- 
more, that they would move that this Council commend the 
object, and refer it to tlie special consideration of the American 
Congregational Union. Adopted. 



410 BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Badger (representing California), 
Hon. Samuel A. Chapin, of Virginia City, Nevada, was admit- 
ted as an honorary member. 

Rev. William A. Stearns, D. D., of Massachusetts, from the 
committee to whom was referred the paper on Systematizing Be- 
nevolent Contributions, submitted their report, as follows : * — 

REPOKT or COMMITTEE OK BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES. 

The committee to whom was submitted the paper entitled " Systema- 
tizing Benevolent Contributions" ask leave to report, that they have 
• given as much time to the consideration of the subject of the paper as 
your intervals of business and their other engagements would allow, 
and see no reason to dissent from the general views and statements pre- 
sented by the original committee. 

They were evidently embarrassed, as all who give attention to the 
facts and circumstances of the case must be, by the number of existing 
organizations engaged in important enterprises, and by the difficulty of 
connecting those organizations by anj wise and practicable plans of con- 
centration. If the authors of the paper had any such end in view when 
they commenced the work assigned them, they were evidently brought 
to despair of its accomplishment. Your committee fully agree with 
them in the opinion that much less can be safely attempted towards 
reducing the number of benevolent associations, and giving greater 
breadth and power to a few which might be specially recommended to 
public confidence, than the inexperienced in such an efibrt would natu- 
rally imagine. Most of these societies have long since attained to the 
dignity and stabihty of years and experience, and have acquired confi- 
dence by valuable services. Most of them have their own charters, their 
own endowments, their own special patrons and friends, and their own 
specific works. They have also a history and a life, and would be de- 
stroyed only by undesirable pressure and violence. The work of evan- 
gelizing the heathen and nominally Christian nations abroad, and of 
converting the population of oar own country wholly to Christ, is the 
one work, generally speaking, which as Christians and Congregation- 
alists we are all interested, in connection with the upbuilding of our own 
churches, to achieve; and we suppose it to be an established fact that 
this work must be carried on among us through the agency of the great 
missionary and other benevolent associations which have been estab- 
lished for the purpose. 

It must not, however, be forgotten that new and great opportunities 
for Christian eifort have been opened to us by the results of the war. 
The colored freedmen, the long neglected whites of the South, the in- 
rushing, enterprising, diversified populations of the West, even more 
than before, all demand Christian sympathy and assistance, which can 

* The report is here printed as finally adopted, — the original paper not being obtain- 
able. The slight alterations made from the original will be easily gathered from the 
discussions. 



BENEVOLE^'T SOCIETIES. 411 

be "best afforded, sometimes by the old organizations, and sometimes 
perhaps by temporary associations formed expressly for their benefit. 
We can not restrict the liberty of the churches in selecting the fields of 
their labor, the objects of their benevolence, and the channels through 
which they would bestow their contributions. 

Your committee, therefore, in view of the whole subject, would limit 
themselves to a few simple suggestions, and those chiefly in accordance 
with the sentiments of the paper before them. 

1. They suggest that it is exceedingly desirable that the disposition to 
Christian giving should be greatly intensified and extended — that ail 
the members of our larger churches should be educated and accustomed 
to it, and that pains should be taken to interest not only the smaller, but 
the smallest churches in it. Of this last character, it is believed that 
there are large numbers which are rarely visited by the agents of be- 
nevolent societies, for the reason that such agents do not find this work 
pecuniarily remunerative to the 'associations which emj^loy them. In 
consequence of this neglect, while the pecuniary loss to the kingdom of 
Christ is great, the loss of Christian growth, through the disuse of giv- 
ing, is far greater and deplorable. We would call the attention of min- 
isterial associations, church conferences, agents of benevolent societies, 
pastors, and churches, to this subject, that they may inquire, in their 
respective localities and relations, what can be done to develop the 
benevolence of all churches and Christians within the reach of their 
influence. 

2. Your committee suggest, that it may be safe and wise to presume 
that intelligent Christians, in selecting societies, will naturally give their 
preference to those whose work, as defined, come nearest to that " fool- 
ishness of preaching " by which Christ saves those who believe. 

3. Your committee suggest, that without infringing upon the liberty 
of the churches and of private Christians, in their selection of societies, 
and because we are afraid that many churches, especially at the West, 
would esteem it a great favor to be informed of the facts, it may be well 
for this body to say that the American Board of Commissioners for 
Foreign Missions, the American Home Missionary Society, and the 
American Missionary Association, have the confidence of our churches, 
and have been accustomed to receive and disburse most of the charities 
intended to subserve the ends for which these societies were formed; 
that the American Education Society, for the increase of the number of 
Christian ministers; the Society for Promoting Collegiate and Theologi- 
cal Education at the West, having the same general object in view; the 
American Bible Society for the translation and distribution of the Word 
of God; the American and Eoreign Christian Union for diffusing the 
simple gospel among nations and communities whose Christianity has 
been sadly corrupted, and in some instances almost destroyed by human 
additions and superstitions ; the old and well-established societies for the 
benefit of seamen, and for the gathering and improving of Sabbath 
Schools, and the Christian education of children in them; the Congrega- 
tional Board of Publication, and the American Congregational Asso- 



412 BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES* 

elation, — have all been sanctioned by the customs of the churches, and 
by the recommendations, often repeated, of numerous religious bodies 
among us; also that the objects for which the American Tract Societies 
were instituted, namely, the distribution of religious books and tracts, 
especially in settlements supiDosed to be destitute of them, are considered 
by this Council as of great importance, and are cordially recommended 
to the churches ; also that, whereas there are many associations for the 
benefit of the freedmen, — the paper under consideration says at least 
twelve, others say as many as eighteen within their knowledge, — it 
would seem desirable to concentrate such agencies, so far as our contri- 
butions are concerned, into some one responsible body sufficiently known 
and approved to be worthy of our confidence; and as the American 
Missionary Association has undertaken this work, we are happy to say 
that in our judgment there is no existing organization which has better 
adaptations to the successful performance of it; also, and as a matter of 
special importance, that an effort to encourage and aid church building, 
especially at the West and South, should be earnestly carried forward 
by the Congregational Union, which has undertaken this enterprise. 

4. Your committee suggest, that while it is not expedient for this 
Council to attempt constrained conjunctions of societies, nor in their 
power to furnish perfect systems of Christian giving which may be 
applicable to all cases, it is the legitimate business of each church, and 
would conduce greatly to its order and comfort, to decide, after full 
consideration for themselves, what objects they will patronize, what 
societies they will employ as their organs, and at what times they will 
make their contributions. ■ They can adopt either of the plans suggested 
in the paper before us, or construct a plan each for itself, always regard- 
ing the ability of the church, and adopting such courses as may be 
most conducive to good order and most fruitful in good works. Your 
committee can not think that impulsive giving to irresponsible solicitors, 
when the circumstances can not be v/ell understood, is either required by 
our Lord, or is conducive to the edification of his church. JS'ew objects 
of high importance will often demand consideration; but it enter- 
tained at all, they should be regarded only as occasional and extraor- 
dinary. 

rinally, your committee suggest that it would be a great saving of 
expense and confusion, and for the edification of the churches, if the 
pastor^ would undertake, as far as may be practicable, to act themselves 
as agents in behalf of the several objects for which the churches under 
their care may choose to contribute; and that while agents may be 
invited when necessary to communicate information, the systematic 
efibrts of pastors and churches should be our main reliance for securing 
those stated contributions which our churches may choose to bestow. 

W. A. Stearns, 

J. H. LiNSLEY, 

WoosTER Parker, 
Calvin B. Cady, 
H. A. Miner, 
Jeremiah Butler. 



AMERICAN CONGREGATIONAL UNION. 413 

Kev. Mr. Adams, of ISTew Hampshire. I would suggest a single verbal 
alteration. In the place of " The Foreign Evangelical Society," what 
I suppose the committee meant was "The American and Foreign 
Christian Union." 

The amendment was accepted. 

A Member. I notice the omission of any reference to the Congrega- 
tional Board of Publication, which is to our denomination what similar 
boards are to other denominations. It has a fund, and is prepared to 
issue tracts to supply missionaries at the West, to a certain extent. 

Rev. Mr. Langworthy, of Massachusetts. I would like very much, 
Mr. Moderator, with your permission and the permission of the Council, 
to say a word, as I could not get the floor when the subjects of Evangeli- 
zation at the South and West and Church Building were under discus- 
sion. 

After sixteen or twenty other good societies, — they are all good, 
brethren, — I have not a word to say against one of them, — after these 
other societies have reaped the field, the committee kindly suggest that 
the American Congregational Union is a very good society through which 
to aid in building houses of worship at the South and West. ■ Now, I do 
want, exceedingly, an expression from this body in regard to church 
building. There was a general " omnibus bill " passed here the other 
day, saying tha,t it would be a good thing to raise $200,000 to build 
churches. I have very little hope from that expression. It does not 
reach the point. Kot one half of the churches have ever recognized this 
object. They have looked upon it as a very clever thing in its way to 
do something toward building meeting-houses, but they have never lifted 
a finger to help. I have worked at this matter for eight years, and I 
have said a good many things — some of them, perhaps, not very wisely. 
The brethren of the West have felt themselves very dependent upon this 
aid; and I say, if this matter is passed over in this way, we shall not 
raise the $200,000, nor even $20,000. If you make this object dependent 
upon putting another month into the year, — as one minister told me, he 
would take Mp a collection for the Congregationa,l Union if I would 
make thirteen months in a year, — I say, if you make this object depend- 
ent upon that, nothing will be done. 

All these commercial societies are doing a good work, but are they 
first, second, or third in importance to our churches at the present time ? 
If you so decide, let this matter slide; let it take care of itself; I cer- 
tainly do not want to press it upon you. To me it is a very important 
and vital thing. It seemed to me that if there could be two or three 
short resolutions passed, something to this effect : " That we will do our 
utmost to double our contributions to the American Home Missionary 
Society and the American Missionary Association, and go on in the same 
way year after year," (for these societies will need double) ; and then 
if you would say, " We will put the church building work of the Ameri- 



414 AMERICAN CONGREGATIONAL UNION. 

can Congregational Union on our calendar for annual contributions, and 
recommend others to do the same,"— I say, that if some such resolutions 
could be passed, something would be done. We never shall raise one half 
or one quarter of $200,000 unless this society comes nearer to you than the 
fifteenth or sixteenth to which you are called upon to contribute. Can 
there not be something said that will make this report a little more de- 
cided, and so that we shall know the opinion of the Council on this church 
building work ? 

I feel keenly on this subject. It is my specialty, you say; but I have 
been called upon to make it so, and I believe it is vital to our denomina- 
tion that this matter should be acted upon by the Council. Do you ask 
me how many of the churches in Massachusetts and Connecticut con- 
tribute to this object ? About one in twenty; and most of these only at 
my importunity. jCS'ot fifty churches in 'New England have it on their 
calendar, and make regular contributions to it. 

I ought to say now, that since this Council commenced its session, I have 
received letters which assure me that, if the good work of the Lord shall 
pros]Der in Southern Missouri for twelve months, as it has for the last three 
months, our receipts of last year, and our prospective receipts for the 
year to come, would not me6t the demands for church building in Mis- 
souri alone. Perhaps there will be a cessation, but if brother Turner 
goes on as he has been going on for three months, we shall not have 
enough to meet the wants of that State; and that, too, without appropri- 
ating more than $500 to any one church. And yet, from all the South 
and West are coming floods of letters asking for contributions. 

Eev. Dr. Holbrook, of New York. I sympathize very much with 
the remarks of Mr. Langworthy, but I will not add anything except to 
say that this subject will come up again in connection with the report of 
the committee which has just been appointed for devising ways and 
means for raising funds. It was my purpose to propose a plan, if nobody 
else did, by which that sum of $200,000 should be raised for church 
building. When that committee shall report, the whole subject will be 
before us. 

Rev. Dr. Stearns, of Massachusetts. A word of exj)lanation. The 
committee, in preparing this report, did not overlook the importance of 
this society, and did not intend to put it in an inferior position. We 
hardly thought it was best to begin with that society, and we thought 
the next best place was the end, as the beginning and the end are more 
likely to attract attention than any other parts. [Laughter.] We 
thought we gave this society a good position, — not the highest, but 
perhaps what might be next to it. Besides that, we supposed there 
might be a special resolution on the subject, and I should be very glad, 
for one, to vote for one presented by the secretary of that society, or by 
some committee which should urge this object with as much eloquence 
as it is proper to introduce into a resolution. But we could not do every- 
thing in a little report like this. 



THE TRACT SOCIETIES. 



415 



On motion, the report was amended by the insertion of the 
'' Congregational Board of Publication." 

Eev. Dr. Thompson, of 'New York. I move to amend the report by 
omitting the paragraph referring to the two Tract Societies. I don't wish 
to discuss the question. I have no desire that the Council should express 
itself in favor of either of these societies. There are ol)yious reasons 
why we should specially urge the claims of the society whose center is 
in this city of Boston, and whose history has been one of unswerving 
fidelity to the cause of freedom and humanity. [Applause.] But I do 
not care to discuss the matter. As it stands now, the two societies are 
evenly balanced, and while neither is specially commended, they are 
thrown out before the public as having, equally, the sanction of this 
"body. I much prefer that we should say nothing about either. 

Eev. Dr. Budixgtox, of New York. I would ask if the motion con- 
templates striking out the reference to the N. Y. Society in the original 
report ? 

Eev. Dr. Thompson". ISTot at all. I hope the original report will 
remain, to be printed with the various documents before the body. That 
involves no action on our part. The action now proposed is action by 
this body on that report. 

Eev. Dr. Budingtox. I am jDerfectly willing that no reference should 
be made to the two Tract Societies — perfectly willing ; but, for one, I 
should feel as though the courtesy which is due to the various opinions 
of this denomination was violated if we should, directly or indirectly, 
put the seal of our approbation as a Council upon either of those socie- 
ties. I stood by the side of my brother, Dr. Thompson, at the time of 
the revolutionary proceedings in the Brick Church, and in Lafayette 
Square Eeformed Dutch Church, and I am free to say that my sympa- 
thies were sti-ongly with the policy that enforced upon the original 
society the introduction of those to^jics that were then agitated. If I 
understand the matter now, both societies are based upon the same prin- 
ciples, and doing the same work of patriotism, in the spirit of a common 
catholicity and Christianity. I am quite sure that this Council, — in view 
of the course it has taken hitherto, of respecting not only the opinions 
of the minority upon all points of theological sentiment, but the opinions 
and feelings of the smallest minority among us, — would not be willing, 
but on the contrary would take s^Decial pains not to throw its influence 
against any organization which at the present time is the cherished 
organ of persons who, hand in hand and heart to heart, are doing the 
common work alike of patriotism and of religion. 

The object I have in rising is simply to say this : that if Dr. Thompson 
contemplates the erasure from the original report of that unkind, and, as it 
seems to me, unchristian and uncourteous reference to a society in which 
I have no special interest, and with which I did not sympathize at the 
time of the agitation to which I have referred, but with which I feel 



416 THE TRACT SOCIETIES. 

obliged to sympathize now, if I can sympathize with the society at 
Boston, — as I cordially do, — I can have no objection to nis motion. 
But I am not willing, as a member of this Council, that we should 
commit ourselves to a censure upon a body of men who, by their 
action during the past four years, have shown themselves to be as 
cordial, as intelligent, as whole-hearted in the work of the world's evan- 
gelization and the redemption of our country from the sin and curse of 
slavery as any body that is recognized by our Congregational chm-ches. 
All I wish, sir, is that this society be let alone. 

Hon. Mr. Hammond, of Illinois. Let them confess their penitence. 
[Great applause.] 

Eev. Dr. Budington. Yery well, sir. I have heard that the dif- 
ference between the societies comes at last to this : we acknowledge 
that, at present, as those societies are working, they are working for 
our Lord and Master, and there is no difference in spirit or action 
between them ; but we require of the old society that they humble 
themselves before us in a confession of the wrong they have done. 
!N'ow, Mr. Chairman, I do not feel that this Council, or any other of the 
representatives of Christ's church, is called upon to ask any such act as 
that. Does the fact that they are not willing to go back over the heated 
and angry disputes of that period, and renew the flames of that spent 
controversy, constitute any reason why we should censure them ? 

Sir, I will say again, in closing, that I speak the more freely on this 
subject, inasmuch as my sympathies were with my honored and beloved 
friend. Dr. Thompson, all through that controversy ; that is, I felt that 
the society should adopt those principles of action, the non-adoption of 
which led to the split. But when, in the providence of God, there rises 
up throughout this land one common spirit of patriotism and Christian- 
ity, which, like the great flood of ISToah, submerges every division line 
upon the face of the earth, I am mistaken very much with regard to the 
feelings and character of this body, if now, when we want a union 
that shall be a union of heart and of hand in the great and more difficult 
work of reconstruction, we are again to renew the heart-burnings, an^ 
alienations and divisions of that period, which seems now to be indeed 
like the period before the flood. If it is the intention to strike out all 
reference to both Tract Societies, so that this Council can, neither really 
nor constructively, be understood as passing a censure upon either one 
or the other, I heartily endorse it. 

Eev. Dr. Thompson, of ^ew York. I do not intend to debate the 
question for one moment, but simply to explain, in reply to my friend, 
Dr. Budington's, inquiry. 

This Council has not yet determined what shall be the final disposi- 
tion of the several documents j^resented to it by the preliminary com- 
mittees. If those documents are ordered to be published, they do not 
commit the Council to any of their statements or sentiments, beyond the 
action of the Council in its own reports or resolves thereupon adopted. 
For example : if the Comicil shall see fit to print, in an appendix, the Dec- 



THE TRACT SOCIETIES. 417 

laration of Faith that I had the honor to submit, nobody can present 
that as the Declaration of this Council. It goes for just what it is worth, 
nothing more, with the names of the committee subscribed to it. So 
with each and every one of those reports. The intent of my motion is 
to strike out all reference to the Tract Societies, and just leave it an 
open question. The report as it stands expresses too much confidence in 
one of those societies. 

Kev. Mr. Wellman, of Massachusetts. I hope this motion will not 
prevail. If I understand it, the committee have recommended to the 
Council that these two Tract Societies be commended to our churches. 
The motion now is to erase this recommendation, which would place 
both these societies upon the same level. "Whatever of odium, therefore, 
there is in the motion comes ujDon both societies alike. For one, I make 
a distinction between these two societies. My personal wish is, that we 
should commend the Boston Tract Society to the churches. I am not 
willing to commend the 'New York Tract Society to the churches. 
[Applause.] I do not believe, as the brother who has spoken does (Dr. 
Budington), that the >Tew York Tract Society is yet worthy of the con- 
fidence of the churches of our denomination. [Voices — "jN'o."] I 
took pains, at the time of conflict to which reference has been made, to 
go to ^ew York to be at that meeting; and, having witnessed the action 
of the New York Tract Society at that time, I have not seen any action 
on their part since that seemed to me to make them worthy of the com- 
mendation of this Council; and I do hope that we shall no*, at the end 
of this conflict, say that the Boston Tract Society, which has been true 
from the beginning to liberty and humanity, shall be placed on the same 
level with the ISTew York Tract Society. [Applause.] For one, my 
wish would be that we should make a discrimination; that we should 
erase from the report the jSTew" York Tract Society, but not the Boston 
Tract Society. 

Kev. Mr. Savage, of Illinois. It seems to me that the simple, ques- 
tion is this : Are we willing to sustain those who, at the cost of large 
sacrifices to themselves, took a stand, previous tq the war, in favor of 
truth and righteousness ; or shall we take a stand for those who delayed 
their action until they were compelled to it ? [Applause, and cries of 
"Hear, hear."] Our churches at the TVest feel strongly on this matter; 
and I believe that every Congregational association in the Western 
States has passed resolutions indorsing fully the American Tract Society 
of Boston, upon the ground that it is worthy to be sustained by Con- 
gregational churches, both for the principles avowed and sustained, and 
for the great work which it is doing; and I am sure that we should do a 
great wrong if we should say, that all this in the past is to be entirely 
obliterated, and go before our churches throwing the influence of this 
great Council against the society that has, as I have said, in the face of 
opposition, and when it cost largely of self-denial and of self-sacrifice, 
taken its stand on the side of right and truth. 

Rev. Dr. Stearns, of Massachusetts. I wish to explain. I beheve 
27 



418 THE TRACT SOCIETIES. 

none of the committee had any strong feeling on this subject; I do not know 
that any of them were in any sense partisans of the New York Societj^; 
but a paper was put into their hands, on which they were called upon 
to report. On examining that paper, they found these words: "The 
American Tract Society at Boston is worthy of the confidence of our 
churches for many reasons, and should be specially commended for the 
manner in which its business affairs are managed, and for restricting its 
operations to its own appropriate sphere." Now, it may be true, or it 
may be false, that it should be commended for such things ; but there is 
a strong and sharp intimation that the other society does not conduct its 
business operations in a manner worthy of the confidence of this body; 
and, moreover, that it does not confine its operations to its own appro- 
priate sphere. Whether they do or not, I do not know; I am not called 
upon to judge. It seemed to the- committee, that if this paragraph was to 
remain untouched, unnoticed in any way, we should arraign the society 
and condemn it without a trial. If this were a proper Council, and 
proper witnesses could be summoned, and it could be ascertained that 
the society at New York does not conduct its business operations 
properly, and, moreover, that it does not confine its operations to its 
appropriate sphere, and if, after a full and fair investigation, that should 
be the opinion of this Council, and this body was the proper body to 
take action upon it, then I say, it would be all right. But to have these 
statements come in here and receive the sanction of this body, without 
their knowing anything about it, did not seem to the committee to be 
right, and therefore they presented their report as it is, saying that these 
bodies have the sanction of this Council, without specifying the pecu- 
liarities of either of them ; not denouncing either of them; but proposing 
that what is in the original report censuring one of the societies 
should be stricken out; and we did that partly to meet the views of the 
friends of the Bostc^n Society. One gentleman, a friend of that society, 
came and said, " If that paragraph goes in, I shall turn my contributions 
to the other society, for it is an act of impropriety and injustice." 

Now, in view of this explanation, if the Council decide to leave that 
paragraph in, so be it. 

Eev. Mr. Bliss, of Tennessee. It seems to me that the difficulty can 
be very easily obviated. If the two societies are to be commended to 
the confidence of the Christian public, it might be expressed in a few 
words, and then special confidence expressed in the Boston Society, in 
view of its fidelity in the hour of trial. I think some little testimony 
like this should be paid to the Boston Society for its faithfulness to its 
principles. This is due to it, due to us, and due to all the interests at 
stake in this matter. 

Eev. Dr. Dutton, of Connecticut. Confidence in the New York 
Society is what I can not express. " Confidence is a plant of slow 
growth." That society forfeited our confidence at one time — at any rate 
it did mine, and my confidence has not yet grown so that I can express 
it. Dr. Budington is more generous in his nature, and his confidence 



THE TRACT SOCIETIES. 419 

has grown very rapidly. But I choose to exercise more caution than 
is involved in his position. If we are going to express confidence in 
either of these societies, for myself, it must be expressed only in the 
Boston Society. 

Mr. Wellman moved to amend the motion of Dr. Thompson, 
so that the name of the New York Society should be erased, 
instead of both societies, and Dr. Thompson accepted the 
amendment. 

Eev. Dr. Wolcott, of .Ohio, asked that the sentence might be 
read, and the chairman of the committee, Rev. Dr. Stearns, 
read it. 

The Modekator. The name, " American Tract Society " does not 
appear. The amendment is really not applicable. 

Eev. Dr. Button, of Connecticut. I move to amend by striking out 
the whole paragraph. • 

Eev. Dr. Kiek, of Massachusetts. I want to know if that strikes out 
the Boston Society ? 

Eev. Dr. STEAR^irs. It leaves the report of the original committee, 
recommending the Boston Society, " for the manner in which its business 
affairs are managed, and for restricting its operations to its own appro- 
priate sphere." 

Eev. Dr. Thompson, of New York, moved to amend by sub- 
stituting, for the paragraph referred to, the following : 

" That the object which the American Tract Society, originally found- 
ed in Boston, has in view, in the manufacture and distribution of reli- 
gious books and tracts, in settlements supposed to be destitute of them, 
is considered by this Council of great importance, and is cordially com- 
mended to the churches." 

Eev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. I did not intend to say a word on 
this matter, but the course of discussion constrains me just to throw out 
a suggestion or two. Is the American Tract Society, in the first place, 
a missionary society ? Is it not formed on the catholic basis of issuing 
nothing but what the Publishing Committee, composed of four or five 
different denominations, unanimously concur in ? Is it, therefore, con- 
gruous for a society, formed on that catholic basis, to employ missiona- 
ries to go abroad and preach the gospel ? That is the first question. 
And, in the second place, is it worth while for a society with a capital of 
about S750,000, at present rates, — all that we ask for in this great year 
of jubilee, — to be commended to our churches as an object of charity ? 
[Loud applause.] 

Eev. Mr. Bodwell, of Kansas. I would ask the privilege of reading 
the resolutions which the General Association of Kansas passed on this 
subject: 



420 THE TRACT SOCIETIES. 

Besolved, That this Association views with surprise and grief the con- 
duct of the American Tract Society, of New York, in that the course 
they once declared forbidden "by their constitution, they now pursue, with 
no Christian acknowledgment of the wrong they then did, or are now 
doing, to the feelings of " Evangelical Christians." [Laughter and ap- 
plause.] 

Besolved, That in once suppressing the publication, even of Bible de- 
nunciations of man-stealing and oppression, and in rudely preventing 
free discussion in their great annual gatherings, we do hold them guilty 
of encouraging the growth and insolence of that power, which, by sword 
and starvation, has slain scores of thousands of our best citizens ; has 
filled the land with widows and fatherless children; and has wasted the 
treasures of the nation in a long and bloody war. [Applause.] 

Besolved, That we ask the older and more influential associations of 
our order to join us in calling upon this society for such an expression 
of penitence, for the wrongs done the coimtry and the cause of Christ, as 
shall warrant a restoration of that confidence, which, by upholding the 
wrong, it has justly forfeitecJ. [Great applause.] 

Eev. Mr. Hurd, of Michigan. I wish simply to bear my testimony 
on this matter. The New York Tract Society could not get into any 
one of our one hundred and forty churches in Michigan, unless they stole 
their way in. 

A Voice. So in Ilfinois. 

Another. So in Iowa. 

Another. So in Wisconsin. 

Eev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio. I hope the amendment of Dr. Thomp- 
son will pass. Tor one, I have no desire, as a member of this Council, 
to utter any word of censure or reflection on the American Tract Society 
of New York. That society missed an opportunity which God in his 
providence seldom sends more than once to any individual or to any or- 
ganization, in my judgment, to place itself in a position in which it could 
go down to the future with moral power. I do not doubt that that soci- 
ety is now, and has been for the past three years, doing a very patriotic 
work; but I have a lively remembrance of the experience of some of the 
beloved brethren of this body who attended its public meetings with all 
the rights and responsibilities of members, who had to fight their way 
through amid interruptions and despotic decisions so numerous, that the 
man who was anciently condemned to walk blindfold among burning 
ploughshares had an easy time compared with them. [Laughter and aj)- 
plause.] But, sir, I leave that society to God, and to the providence of 
God; I have no vindictive feelings in regard to it; but I do feel that we 
ought to commend that society which, like the seraph Abdiel, was "faith- 
ful among the faithless found." [Applause.] 

Kev. Dr. Blodgett, of Khode Island. I have not opened mj mouth 
in the Council. I prayed, before I left home, that I might not do any 
harm here, and I have found grace, so far, to keep silent; but I do feel 
constrained to say, now, that with whatever protestations of friendship 



THE TRACT SOCIETIES. 421 

brethren may come, with the proposed action, the result of that action will 
be to reflect dishonor upon the New York Society, and draw an invidious 
distinction between the two societies, which, it seems to me, if I may be 
allowed to say it, is not in accordance with the spirit of the times, and 
with the spirit of the discussions in which this Council has been engaged. 
Neither does it look with an aspect of favor to the great work of home 
evangelization, which we are called upon as a Council to undertake, to 
begin this new dispensation by placing a brand upon one of the great 
instrumentalities of evangelization which God has thus blessed; and I 
am sure that, when it is very doubtful whether a rebel of the last four 
years, except Jefferson Davis, — and a little doubtful whether he proves 
an exception, — will be hung, it is no time for this Council to go, as it 
were, for hanging the American Tract Society. It seems to me that, 
when the whole spirit of the times, coming out of such a terrible conflict 
as we are now, is that of large forbearance, we should look with leniency, 
so far forth as we can in conscience, upon the shortcomings of any of our 
associations in times that are past. It is no time to stand on points of 
ceremony and of difference of measures, such as formerly existed be- 
tween these two great associations that have, under the force of events 
that are stronger than men, been brought to march side -by side in the 
great work of seeking the salvation of souls throughout this land. It is 
no time in this Council to interpose and say, " We can not, by implica- 
tion even, approve the course of the American Tract Society of New 
York; " and we do say this if we adopt the line of action that is contem- 
plated. If I understand it, I should be very, very sorry to have anything 
go out from this Council of that character. 

Eev. Mr. Bkadshaw, of New York. I wish to inquire to whom the 
American Tract Society belongs ? 

Rev. Dr. Budingto:^^, of New York. It is a catholic society, as Dr. 
Bacon says. I am under the necessity, very much to my grief, indeed, of 
leaving this house in a few moments, and if any brother thinks I am ob- 
truding, I throw myself upon his mercy, while I say a few words. 

I came up to this assembly with some fears and many hopes, and my 
fears have all disai^peared, and my hopes have risen into one jubilant 
thanksgiving to Almighty God. That independent men, having among 
them different sympathies and lines of action, should come up here, and, 
respecting one another's feelings, tastes, preferences, prejudices, locality, 
and everything of that kind, still meet in the spirit of one catholic Chris- 
tianity, prepared to unite in an aggressive movement upon all the forms 
of atheism in this country and the world, seemed to me the culmination 
of the grand principles of Congregationalism. Let me appeal to the 
Council through you, Mr. Moderator, not to dissolve the charm of that 
union which I believe is the outgrowth of the Spirit of God in the hearts 
of these brethren, kept alive and glowing there by that half hour of 
prayer every forenoon. Do not, I beseech you, in a moment of angry 
haste, stab the reputation for Christianity, and for patriotism, of men 



422 THE TRACT SOCIETIES. 

who love their country as much as any other men — men who have 
given — 

A Member. I protest against the words, " angry haste." 
• Kev. Dr. Budington. I will take them back ; I am sorry I used 
them. I did not mean to say any word which any brother could miscon- 
strue. I respect, sir, with all my heart, that steadfast loyalty to principle 
that animated my brethren of New England throughout that contro- 
versy ; but I do desire, for the cause of our common country and our 
Union hereafter, that we may not rake up that old controversy. These 
resolutions from Kansas arraign our brethren in New York as having 
done an unchristian thing ; so unchristian that, in order to the restora- 
tion of confidence, they should come forward and confess it. [Voices. — 
" True," — " true."] I have only a word or two to say. My grand desire 
is the unity of our churches in a life-long work for the conservation of 
the interests of this comitry ; and I ask you, in God's name and in the 
name of our Redeemer, not to divide brethren who love the same cause, 
and who are pursuing the same cause by the same methods, simply be- 
cause, in times past, they differed, and as brethren differing do, said hard 
things about one another. 

I do wish to say, brethren, that those gentlemen, who have been 
arraigned here on this platform, were many of them, I know, as anxious 
to do what was desired in the matter of publication as any gentlemen 
in Boston were, but they felt themselves bound by that constitution of 
catholicity which I understand Dr. Bacon to comment upon, — and in his 
comments I cordially agree. I think it is not tlie organization for us ; 
and I agree cordially in that report, which seems to have been forgotten 
by some of us, which has reviewed the whole underlying policy of both 
these Tract Societies. I beg you, brethren, do not arraign men because 
they felt themselves bound by the constitution under which they were 
acting, and, under that constitution, felt themselves unable to publish 
anything which any section of any evangelical church, co-operating in 
that united society, objected to. Do not arraign gentlemen who felt 
themselves bound in honor and in conscience to the course which they 
pursued. 

Brethren, we had Dr. Yaughan here before us ; we had brother Beecher 
a short time afterwards, endorsing what Dr. Vaughan said in regard to 
the position of England toward our country; although in the first instance 
he could not understand it; but having cooled himself among the glaciers 
of Switzerland, and come round through phlegmatic Germany, he did 
understand the feelings of those brethren who, sympathizing, as Dr. 
Yaughan tells us, with this country, thought the constitution of the 
" Union " forbade them to introduce the vexed question of the American 
war, and realized that it was only as a matter of self-preservation, and 
not as casting any censure upon us, that they pursued the course they 
did. Will you have charity for a " Union " over the water, and refuse it 
to a " Union " among your own brethren, engaged in doing the same 
work with you ? I beseech you, brethren, for the sake of harmony and 



THE TRACT SOCIETIES. 423 

eflSciency in our efforts for the consummation of the work to which we 
are now giving ourselves, do not, directly or indirectly, arraign the char- 
acter for patriotism of your brethren in New York. 

Kev. Mr. Beadshaw, of New York. I inquired to whom the N. Y. 
Tract Society belongs. Does it not belong to us as much as to any other 
people in this land ? We argue that we are so zealous to have a force 
to go into the West and South that we are ready to recommend the 
licensing, and perhaps ordaining, of men uneducated. Now, the Ameri- 
can Tract Society have done things that we did not approve ; but are we 
going to rake up that? That society is a power, a great power, — 
$750,000, Dr. Bacon just told us. Now, why should we alienate that 
society ? Why should we throw ourselves into an attitude so that we 
cannot appropriate that to the great work we have in hand, after a 
little, if not now ? One half of these brethren are members of that so- 
ciety. In the name of common sense, of good policy, and of our Saviour, 
for whom we labor, let us not repudiate that society. 

Kev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. I want to say a word or two, in the 
hope that this question will be disposed of immediately and kindly. 
There is a brother [Dr. Dutton] whom I love as I do my own soul. He 
has a very forgiving spirit, and so have I. He has forgiven Gen. But- 
ler, and yet I have never heard that Gen. Butler made a confession 
of his sin. He was as big a sinner, before Fort Sumter, as the American 
Tract Society, and has never said to this day that he has repented. 
We have forgiven ever so many men who never made any confession, 
and I am willing to forgive these men — every mother's son of them. 
[Laughter.] I am perfectly wilhng to forgive them, and hope I shall 
remember nothing against them of what happened " before the flood," as 
the brother said. I want to dispose of this matter in such a way as 
shall leave no scar and no unkind feeling anywhere, either in the mind 
of brother Budington, or Dr. Kirk, or any of us. Can we not say that 
the object of doing good by the distribution of books and tracts is com- 
mended to our churches ? That I am ready to say. I do not permit 
the representative of brother Eark's society, nor of any Tract Societj^, 
to stand in my pulpit, and ask money for a manufacturing and trading 
corporation. 

Eev. Dr. Kirk, of Massachusetts. We don't ask it. 

Kev. Dr. Bacoist, of Connecticut. No, you don't ask it. But your rep- 
resentative goes round among my people, — and I am glad to have him, — 
and solicits money for an increase of the capital, or for the charitable oper- 
ations of your society ; and the other man comes, whether I am glad nr 
not [Laughter]; he knows the beat; he got the track long ago; but some- 
times he has complained, of late years, that he has got naore kicks than 
coppers ; and I am sorry for the kicks he gets, and a little sorry for the 
coppers [Laughter and applause] ; because my judgment — my private 
and personal judgment — does not go along with the scheme of doing 
good which is prosecuted especially by that society. The publication of 
books, whether by fhe Carters or by this excellent Publication Society 



424 THE TRACT SOCIETIES. 

here in Boston, is a good thing; and the giving away of books is a good 
thing; and I have a contribution taken in my church every year to buy 
books for the purpose of giving them away, and we buy them of this so- 
ciety, but not exclusively ; and what we can not give away in our own 
parish, and to the Germans and others in- New Haven, we put into the 
Home Missionary barrels, and send them to the home missionaries to 
give away; and we put in these bookS of the' American Tract Society, 
and all sorts of societies, taking a little pains to see that the books are 
worth the freight. [Laughter.] Now, let us get rid of this diflSlculty, 
and say nothing of either of these societies, but merely say, that the ob- 
ject of doing good by the distribution of books and tracts is commended 
to the churches. 

Eev. Dr. Stearns, of Massachusetts. I will not object to the amend- 
ment, provided the passage in the original report is stricken out, and 
provided these words shall be put in: "without passing judgment on 
other organizations." 

The amendment was accepted. 

Eev. Mr. Bliss, of Tennessee. There are some here who know my 
interest in the Boston Society. I attended the three days' session at New 
' York, and when at last it was concluded to draw off, I may be pardoned 
if I state that I made the first motion to that end. Three amendments 
were offered, which I moved to lay on the table, which brought the mat- 
ter to an issue. I am just as cordial a friend of the Boston Society as 
any man can be; but while thus friendly to that society, I should dislike 
to introduce anything like a firebrand to divide and alienate the brethren 
of this body. Sir, there is no call for it, no demand for it, whatever. 
We have a large interest in the New York Tract Society. We have not 
come up here as a Council to call upon that society to make confession 
and pay obeisance to us. That is not our province. It is a matter of 
small moment, in view of the grandeur of the work before us, whether 
they shall in so many words confess their sins, or whether they shall, 
" forgetting the things that are behind, press forward to the things that 
are before." That is the great question before us ; and while that is so^ 
I would not throw a straw in the way of that society ; I would not do a 
thing in this Council to alienate one brother. There is no need of it ; 
there is no call for it. All I would say, would be simply to commend both 
these organizations in common, for they are both doing a great and blessed 
work in our day. Only look over the literature of that New York Tract 
Society. What a treasure of religious truth, — what a treasure of the 
richest gospel and Christian experience is to be found in their publica- 
tions! Why need we do anything here that shall seem to cut us off or 
alienate us one moment from that society ? There is no need of it. We 
have a large interest in that organization, and now that they have right- 
ed themselves, let us do nothing that shall cut us off from that society or 
prevent our drinking largely from their fountains of love and Christian 



THE TRACT SOCIETIES. 425 

truth and experience. Ko man could grieve more deeply than I did over 
the terrible fault, mistake, or error (the sin, I call it, for it seemed to me 
a dreadful sin), of that society in neglecting and persistently refusing to 
testify on the great question of American freedom. Thos.e were my feel- 
ings then; but they have at length "righted themselves," as we express 
it at the South ; and now, doing God's work as they are, let us not alien- 
ate or divide brethren on this question. But it seems to me, that while 
commending that society, a reference ought to be made to the faithful- 
ness of the Boston Society in the hour of emergency, when it still stood 
forth and testified for the great principles of freedom and righteousness 
in the land. It seems to me that this would be wise, kind, forgiving, and 
loving. 

Kev. E. P. Marvin, of Massachusetts. I will not detain you long; and 
having voted with the Boston Society throughout all that time of division, 
I am sure I shall not be misunderstood in the remarks I am about to make. 
I am feeling exceedingly anxious in the line of thought that Dr. Bacon 
suggested. Does this Council wish to throw $750,000, with all the Isew 
York Tract Society can raise in !N'ew York and throughout the country, 
into the hands of the Presbyterians ? Do we want to make the same 
mistake which they have made, — a sad one for them, too, -7- in regard 
to the Home Missionary Society ? Men who do not forgive, who are not 
kind and cordial, when everybody must be forgiving, are very sure to 
make mistakes; and while I believe that the Tract Society in Boston 
ought to be commended, I do not wish to say a single word in this Coun- 
cil which shall alienate that society. If you do, you will find rich men 
and rich societies and ministers and men of influence throughout H^ew 
England, — a great many of them, — who will give their money to that 
society, and it will go against the interests of the Congregational denom- 
ination. Here is an argument which, to my mind, is perfectly conclu- 
sive. Do not alienate that powerful society, which will command money 
by hundreds of thousands of dollars in isTew England, in spite of any ac- 
tion which you can take here to-day. Let us have what commendation 
you choose for the Boston Society — though I do not think it needs it, 
where there have been so many local commendations ; but I beg you not 
to say anything that shall be construed into opposition to that great so- 
ciety, and especially into opposition to it on the ground of the manage- 
ment of its business affairs. If we are to say anything on that subject, 
even by implication, we ought to call upon some of our shrewd business 
men to decide that question, for there is a dispute about it. I understand 
that some of our own friends do not wish that we should put that to the 
test, because good men differ in regard to it. I have been somewhat be- 
hind the scenes, and I know that the question has been submitted to a 
committee of business men in New York, and I know a projDosition was 
once made here in Boston to submit it to business men here; and while 
I would not wish to intimate at all what the decision would be, I beg of 
you not by implication to censure that society. 

Kev. Mr. Mills, of Michigan If we had any special responsi])ility 



426 THE TRACT SOCIETIES. 

as pertaining to this matter, I should favor a thorough, sharp discussion 
of the question, and some thorough, sharp decision; but we represent 
independent bodies of Christians all over this land, who are able to form 
their own judgments, and have, for the most part, formed them. TTe 
have no special responsibility with reference to the manner in which 
they shall give to this object. If there was a necessity for making a 
sharp declaration, I should be willing to make one. I have my own 
judgment, my church has its own judgment, and I presume it is a good 
one; and it is clear that the great mass of the churches represented here 
have their own judgment. 

Now, sir, I am exceedingly anxious that nothing shall be said which 
shall be felt as a hardship by any single member of this Council. We 
are independent men, we are independent churches, and we have no 
right in a matter where we are not called upon to act, to be a hardship 
to any one. Inasmuch as we gain nothing by a positive utterance, 
I am in favor of the manner in which the thing was put by Dr. 
Bacon, — and I wish he had presented it as an amendment, — that the 
cause of the societies be commended to the churches, leaving it to the 
churches themselves to judge between them. Why do we need to get 
into heat and embarrassment by discussing this question, and by sharp 
di\isions on this matter ? 

Rev. Dr. Barstow^ of ]N'ew Hampshire. I wish this report might be 
recommitted to the committee. We are doing infinite mischief b}^ this 
discussion. 

Eev. Mr. Allen, of Massachusetts. I think the house could be har- 
monized by introducing an amendment to this effect: after passing 
what has been suggested, adding, " without judging any other society, 
but bidding God-speed to every society having the same object as our 
own." 

Eev. Dr. Kjkk, of Massachusetts. I beg the privilege of saying a 
word. I think that, just as Satan, when he saw Adam and Eve in Para- 
dise, happy, contrived some way to get in there and tempt them to eat 
the apple, so he has done here. It is ten thousand pities that we ever 
got on this track; and I must say, that Dr. Budington did it. 

Now, let me say, as an oflScial of the Boston Tract Society, that all we 
wish is, that you shall not put us out as if we were not one of your 
societies. Only refrain from that, and we shall be satisfied. We are not 
a court of justice, and are not trying the brethren of the New York 
Society; and I pray God and my brethren that we shall end this after- 
noon as we ended this morning, in the spirit in which we shall go to 
heaven. 

A motion was made, that the report be recommitted to the 
committee, and carried. 

Rev. Mr. Langworthy, from the committee on Nominations, 
reported the following names as the 



REPORT ON CHURCH POLITY. 427 



COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC AND PRIVATE WORSHIP. 

Eev. Abijah P. Marvin, Eev. I^athaniel H. Eggleston, of Massachu- 
setts; Rev. Jonathan L. Jenkins, Eev. Orpheus T. Lanphear, of Connecti- 
cut; Eev. Joshua Leavitt, d. d., of ^N'ew York. 

The report was accepted. 

A recess of five minutes was taken, after which, Rev. John 
P. Gulliver, of Connecticut, read the following as the report of 
the committee on Church Polity : — 

REPORT ON CHURCH POLITY. 

The committee to whom was referred "the statement of Congrega- 
tional Pohty " respectfully report. 

Your committee found it necessary, in the opening of their considera- 
tion of the subject referred to them, to fix definitely in their own minds 
the precise limits of the functions of a Council like this in issuing a state- 
ment of Church polity. These hmits are defined, — 

1. By what we have a riglit to do. 

2. By what we have time to do. 

3. By what it is expedient for us to do. 

in respect to the first question the answer is plain. We have a right 
to issue as complete and comprehensive a statement as we are able to 
secure, for the consideration of the churches whose representatives we 
are, so long as, in the language of Eichard Mather, we claim no more 
authority for such statement " than there is force in the reason of it." 

In respect to the question how far it is possible for a body of five 
hundred men, in the time at our command, to issue a perfected state- 
ment concerning a subject so extensive, and embracing such variety and 
number of details, your committee were soon convinced that only an 
axjirroximation could possibly be made to that precision and compre- 
hensiveness and conciseness which must characterize such a document, 
if it shall be worthy of this National Council or generally acceptable to 
the churches we represent. Your committee, therefore, became con- 
vinced, early in their dehberations, that all that this Council could possibly 
do, under the most favorable circumstances, would be to give a general 
approval to the documents reported to it, and that it would be com- 
pelled at last to commit them with such emendations and additions as it 
might direct, and such as might be brought out by open discussions, or 
private suggestions by members of the Council to a committee, for final 
revision and publication. 

And in these necessities of our position we found an answer to our 
third question, as to how much it would be expedient for us to do even if we 
should have at command all the time we could desire. On this point 
your committee have been led to the conclusion, that inasmuch as the 



428 REPORT ON CHURCH POLITY. 

action of this Council is to go forth over large portions of our country, 
in which the idea of church authority and ecclesiastical legislation pre- 
vails, to the nearly entire exclusion of the conception of our free Con- 
gregational forms, it would prevent much misconception and misrepre- 
sentation, if such a document, after receiving the general approval of 
this Council, should go forth to the world with the full indorsement only 
of the gentlemen whose names shall be appended thereto. 

In this manner we might hope to find a middle course between the two 
extremes of too great authority on the one hand, and of the entire absence 
of authority on the other. We might hope, in other words, to avoid all 
appearance of legislation for the churches, while at the same time we 
might commend to the churches a statement of polity which should carry 
with it prima facie evidence of its correctness: first, from having 
received the general approval of this National Council; and, secondly, 
from the minute and absolute approval of a large committee carefully 
selected by this body, who shall have received the benefit of an extended 
discussion of the papers now under examination, for months to come, by 
the whole body of our ministers and churches. 

Having settled in their own minds these general principles, your com- 
mittee applied themselves to the close and careful study of the two 
papers presented to them. 

They found the longer of these papers to be an able, comprehensive, 
and, in their view, a generally correct statement of the principles of the 
Congregational polity, and well worthy to be the basis of tlfe platform 
which we now desire to take the place of the ancient Cambridge Plat- 
form. They found a close similarity to that long-revered work of our 
fathers, large portions being little else than a substantial reproduction of 
that document. 

They found the shorter of these papers to be concise and yet com- 
prehensive, and in these respects well calculated for ordinary use in our 
churches, and for insertion in our church manuals. 

A careful examination on the part of the committee of the detailed 
statements contained in these documents, and of written suggestions sent 
in to us by members of this body, reveals the fact that special attention 
is necessary in the final revision to the following points: 

1. The insertion of proof-texts, after the manner of the Cambridge 
Platform, and also of references to standard works on Congregationalism. 

2. The definition of Church Polity. 

3. The definition of the Church Visible, and the whole arrangement of 
the definitions of the church, local and universal, visible and invisible, 
mihtant and triumphant, with reference to the question of genus and 
species, and of logical consistency. 

4. The statement concerning councils, as to their action in certain 
cases as hoards of referees; as to the propriety of admitting persons as 
corresponding members not invited in the letters-missive ; as to the pro- 
priety of sending stated supplies to act as pastors on councils; as to the 
propriety of using the word " Synody 



REPORT ON CHURCH POLITY. ' 429 

5. The relation of ecclesiastical societies to the churches, and the 
degree and kind of control which such societies should have over Church 
property, and also as to the recognition and commendation of the prac- 
tice of dispensing with the " ecclesiastical society " altogether, when the 
civil law alloAvs. 

6. The relation of baptized children to the church. 

7. The designation of the church members who may properly vote in 
church meetings. 

8. The more distinct recognition of the aggressive and missionary 
functions of the church, and the question of a more direct control by 
the church of the various benevolent enterprises which they maintain. 

9. Sundry questions concerning ministers and the pastoral office, such 
as these : — Should a minister be a member of the church of which he 
is pastor ? Are the statements of the platform under consideration, con- 
cerning the eldership and the presbyters, on page nine, correct ? What 
should be the office of the pastor in inaugurating and administering 
discipline in the church ? Is a pastor, ex officio, the moderator of all the 
meetings of the church ? Are the rights and powers of a pastor cor- 
rectly stated ? Should the pastor have entire control of the service of 
teaching or preaching in his own pulpit ? Should a church ordain and 
depose from the ministry, or only a council ? 

10. The grouping of all the churches of a city or town into one 
church, page six. 

11. The* scriptural requirement that the Psalms be used in public 
worship. 

12. A more precise specification of the only mode of separation from 
the church. 

13. The importance of introducing more fully the doctrines of the 
Cambridge platform, concerning the withdrawal of fellowship from a 
disorderly church by its sister churches. 

1-4. The importance of sharply defining, in a separate chapter, the 
distinction between the church polity of Congregationalists and the 
polity of other denominations. 

15. The principle and law of fellowship through councils and the 
proper functions of ex-parte councils. 

16. The statement made on page thirteen, article six, concerning the 
treatment of excommunicated church members. 

17. The statement made on page eighteen, section tweh^e, respecting 
the confederation of churches, and the question whether there should be 
a recoo:nition of standing; councils. 

18. The expediency of securing the preparation of a catechism upon 
the cardinal principles of our faith and polity, for the use of the churches. 
. Such your committee have found to be the general character of the 
two documents submitted to them, and such are the points which seem 
to require special attention and revision. 

In conclusion, your committee recommend the following action on the 
part of the Council : 
Besoked, That this Council, having received and duly examined the 



430 REPORT ON CHURCH POLITY. 

two statements of church polity presented to them, hereby express 
their approval of the general principles and scope of the same. 

Besolved, That these documents be referred to the committee report- 
ing them, consisting of Eev. Leonard Bacon, d. d., Eev. Alonzo H. 
Quint, and Eev. Henry M. Storrs, D. D., which committee shall be en- 
larged by the addition of twenty-four members, of whom six shall be 
professors selected, one from each of our six theological seminaries ; 
viz., Bangor, Andover, ^ew Haven, East Windsor, Oberhn, and 
Chicago, to be nominated by the committee on Nominations, and ap- 
pointed by this body, who shall revise and publish the same under the 
following instructions : 

1. All members and ministers of Congregational churches, either in an 
individual or associated capacity, and especially the committee who 
framed these documents, shall be invited by the committee of twenty- 
five to indicate such additions, emendations, and omissions as they may 
judge proper. 

2. The committee shall take into special and careful consideration the 
points to which attention is now called in this report, and in general shall 
be empowered to make such changes and additions to the documents 
in their charge as they may deem advisable, and as may not be incon- 
sistent with the general principles now approved. 

3. In cases where, without a violation of the cardinal principles of 
Congregationalism, the usages of Congregationalists differ, the mode 
preferred by the committee shall be inserted in the text, and th^ varying 
usages shall be indicated in a foot-note. 

4. The origin and history of the document shall be set forth in a 
preface, to which shall be appended the signatures of the committee. 

5. An appendix shall be added, containing such ecclesiastical formulas 
as the committee may deem expedient. 

John p. Gulliver, 
Edtv^ards a. Park, 
Samuel Harris, 
S. C. Bartlett, 
K. Bishop, 
Chas. C. Salter, 
J. Guernsey, 

J. S. HOYT, 

J. G. Dayis, 
J. D. Liggett, 
E. r. Burr. 

Rev. Dr. Leavitt, of New York, presented a minority report, 
as follows : — 

mijStoeity eepoet 01^ THE stateme:n't of CHUECH 

POLITY. 

The undersigned, a minority of the committee of the National Congre- 
gational Council, to whom was referred the statement of Congregational 



REPORT ON CHURCH POLITY. 431 

Polity presented by the Committee of the Provisional Conference at 
Xew York, respectfully report : — 

That the Council, and the churches they represent, are under obliga- 
tions of gratitude to the Provisional Committee for the pains and study 
they have bestowed in the preparation of this document, which is both 
instructive and valuable as a presentation of the ancient principles of 
Congregationalism in their application to modern circumstances. 
Should it be published, as it ought to be, either among the doings of this 
Council or in a separate work, or in both these ways, it will add one 
more to the many attempts of wise and good men to reduce these 
principles and their applications to the form of a consistent and harmo- 
nious code. As the latest in the order of time, it will be found among the 
most complete and useful of similar compilations in our language. But 
valuable as all. must admit it to be in its general character, and worthy of 
high respect as a comprehensive statement, it is quite beyond both the 
province and the capacity of this Council to determine, with the needful 
deliberation, the innumerable points of detail of so extensive a Work. 
And it would be neither right nor wise for the Council to seem to 
attach the authority of its sanction to statements which it has neither 
formed nor considered in their minute expression and multifarious appli- 
cation. What is rather appropriate for this Council, would be such a 
statement of the general principles of Congregationalism, and such an 
exposition of the bearing of those principles upon the civil and religious 
liberties of the country, upon our free institutions, and upon the growth 
and character of our American civilization, as would be fitted to com- 
mend their principles to the respectful consideration of those that are not 
Congregationalists, and illustrate the benefits which would accrue to 
churches and Christians of every name from the general adoption of the 
simple methods of church government exhibited in the ]N"ew Testament. 
If Congregational principles are destined to meet with general preva- 
lence throughout our country, I apprehend that it will not be done 
by the present slow process of training up Congregational ministers in 
Congregational seminaries, who shall gather Congregational churches, 
forcing their way in antagonism to all the other churches, so much as by 
ministers and churches of other denominations coming by convincemeut 
of fact and conscience to the belief of the soundness of our principles, 
and the safety and good effects of maintaining church life and efliciency 
with such simple machinery. 

The Congregationalists of England and Wales, some of whose churches 
are older than our olvn, and whose numbers and efliciency, the learning 
and orthodoxy of their clergy, and the general intelligence and piety of 
their members, entitle their views and practices to great weight, and 
with whom. we hold equal fellowship, have published a general statement 
of their principles of faith and order, which may afford a useful hint in 
regard to the business before us. It was prepared at the annual meet- 
ing of the Congregational Union of England and "Wales in 1832, sub- 
mitted to the ministers and churches of the respective county and dis- 



432 REPORT ON CHURCH POLITY. 

trict associations, and, having met with general approbation, was unan- 
imously adopted in 1833, " with the distinct understanding that it was 
not intended as a text, or creed, for subscription." Of this document, 
the " Principles of Church Order and Discipline " occupy about one page, 
and this has been found, for more than thirty years, to be a sufficient 
exposition of the nature of their church order and discipline. The most 
important parts of this declaration may be given with still greater 
brevity, omitting such portions as relate to their particular circumstances, 
and with such changes of phraseology as may give to the principles a 
greater distinctness of expression. 

1. They hold it to be the will of Christ that believers should assemble 
together to observe religious ordinances, to promote constant edification, 
to perpetuate and propagate the Christian religion, and to advance the 
worship and glory of God ; and that such society of believers, having 
these objects in view, is properly a Christian Church. 

2. That the l^ew Testament contains, either in the form of express 
statute or in the example and practice of apostles and apostolical 
churches, all the principles of order and discipline requisite for consti- 
tuting and governing the churches ; so that human traditions, fathers, 
and councils, canons and creeds, possess no authority over the faith and 
practice of Christians, and all questions are to be settled by appeal to the 
Scriptures. 

3. That the j^ew Testament authorizes every Christian church to 
elect its own officers, to manage all its own afiairs, and to stand inde- 
pendent of all authority, saving that only of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

4. That the only officers placed by the apostles over individual 
churches are the bishops or pastors, and the deacons, in numbers accord- 
ing to the necessities of the church ; and to these, as the officers of the 
church, is committed respectively the administration of its spiritual and 
temporal concerns, subject to the approbation of the church. 

5. The power of admission into any Christian church, and rejection 
from it, is vested in the church itself, and to be exercised only through 
its officers. 

6. That no persons should be received as members of Christian 
churches but such as make a creditable profession of Christianity, are 
living according to its precepts, and attest a willingness to be subject 
to its discipline ; and that none should be excluded from the fellowship 
of the church but such as deny the faith of Christ, violate his laws, or 
refuse to submit themselves to the discipline which the word of God 
imposes 

10. That it is the duty of Christian churches to hold communion with 
each other, to entertain an enlarged affection for each other as mem- 
bers of the same body, and to co-operate for the promotion of the 
Christian cause ; but that no church nor union of churches has any 
right or power to interfere with the faith or discipline of any other 
church, further than to separate from such as in faith or practice 
depart from the gospel of Christ. 

11. That it is the privilege and duty of every church to call forth such 



REPORT ON CHURCH POLITY. 433 

of its members as may appear to be qualified by the Holy Spirit, to 
sustain the oflSce of the ministry ; and that Christian churches unitedly 
ought to consider the maintenance of the Christian ministry in an ade- 
quate degree of learning, as one of its (sic) especial cares ; that the 
cause of the gospel may be both honorably sustained and constantly 
promoted. 

12. That church officers, whether bishops or deacons, should be chosen 
by the free voice of the church ; but that their dedication to the duties 
of their office should take place with special prayers, and by solemn 
designation ; to which most of the churches add the imposition of hands 
by those already in office. 

13. That the fellowship of every Christian church should be so liberal 
as to admit to communion in the Lord's Supper all whose faith and 
godliness are on the whole undoubted, though conscientiously differing in 
points of minor imj)ortance ; and that this outward sign of fraternity in 
Christ should be co-extensive with the fraternity itself, though without 
involving any compliances which conscience would deem sinful.^ 

In comparing these passages with the document referred to this 
committee, or any other accredited publication on American Congrega- 
tionalism, several considerable differences are apparent, both in the pre- 
sentation and the application of the practical rules drawn from the one 
fundamental principle which is common to both countries, the perfect 
autonomy of the local church. For instance, they do not require the 
strictness of an actual covenant to the being of a chm-ch, but take prac- 
tical union in worship as a sufficient basis of chui'ch power and church 
responsibility, which is all that can be clearly proved from Scripture. 
They give the binding force of law to no custom or inference not 
clearly found in Scripture. They give more distinct and express prom- 
inency to the tenet that the chm-ch is " independent of all authority " 
but Christ's. On the other hand, their requirement, that all church 
action should be "through its officers," would not be well received 
among us, where all our people are accustomed and trained to take an 
active part in the management of affairs. 

A still more important difference appears in their broader presenta- 
tion of the rights and relations of churches, so as to include, not Con- 
gregational, but all " Christian churches," alike in their claims and 
responsibilities. Has not the time come, and is not this Council the 
appropriate agent, for American Congregationalists to take this elevated 
ground, and, looking away beyond the narrow bounds of a denominar 
tion, proclaim to all Christian churches our recognition of their right to 
all the liberties which we enjoy, and our readiness to embrace in our 
fellowship of the churches all who give evidence that Christ acknowl- 
edges them for his ? 

This view of the possible duty of the Council suggests another reason 
why the document referred to us is not quite appropriate to the occasion. 
It is based upon the Cambridge Platform of 1648, and is a transcript of 

1 See Hanbury, Historical Memorials, vol. iii. pp. 599, 600. 
28 



434 REPORT ON CHURCH POLITY. 

much of that famous and valuable record, including as well its antiquated 
phraseology as its uncouth and lumbering logic. But that platform was 
an outgrowth of the circumstances in which our Pilgrim Fathers then 
found themselves, only twenty-eight years after the first settlement at 
Plymouth; and it is submitted that the circumstances in which this 
Council convenes call for an utterance as difierent in tone and aim as our 
present situation, duties, and responsibilities differ from theirs. If we 
throw ourselves back into their case, we shall find a synod summoned 
and authorized by the civil power, embracing the representatives of 
thirty or forty feeble churches, the only Christian lights of about as 
many thousand civilized inhabitants, sprinkled through the dense wilder- 
ness from Salem to Hartford. They werer pressed down with two great 
anxieties which they looked to the synod to allay. Pirst, their hearts 
longed, even to bursting, in their solitude and weakness, to feel the fel- 
lowship and confidence of the churches of the Old World, so large and 
so strong. And secondly, they felt that the future welfare and even life 
of their whole enterprise depended upon the preservation of entire unity 
among themselves. And their utterances naturally took the forms cal- 
culated to meet these their greatest necessities. As the churches of the 
Old World with whom they were in correspondence were all Calvinistic, 
and mostly Presbyterian, the synod gave full and emphatic assurance 
of their own adherence to the Calvinistic formularies, but only " for 
substance of doctrine ; " and were also careful to put such a face on their 
own Congregational usages as was best fitted to make them appear as 
good as Presbytery. And on the other point, they made the cords of their 
unity fully as stringent as could possibly appear consistent with the car- 
dinal principle of the autonomy of the individual church. And from 
that time to the present, Congregationalism has suffered itself to be shut 
up in a corner of the country, and has presented itself as on the defensive 
in the presence of the more organized and governed bodies of Christian 
churches in this country ; and all its utterances have been more or less 
apologetic in their tone. And in like manner, it has been the great care 
of our leading minds to cherish the spirit of unity among ourselves ; to 
consohdate our ranks as a sect among sects ; to tone down diversities, 
and repress everything out of the ordinary course ; often sacrificing 
efficiency to uniformity ; trying to elevate usage into the rank of law ; 
and to lower the sacred sympathies of fellowship into the character of a 
code with despotic power. This first meeting in a National Council, 
of the Congregational churches, naturally calls us to take an account of 
the results of this whole restrictive policy. And what do we find ? 
Why, just this, that we have kept our churches in unity and order, but 
have lost our hold upon the people. Whereas, at the beginning of our 
national existence, Congregationalism embraced the whole population 
of New England, except in Ehode Island, and a few congregations of 
Episcopalians and of Baptists elsewhere, at the present time we are 
in a minority in every county and almost every township of New 
England. Why should we take measures to spread ourselves over the 



REPORT ON CHURCH POLITY. 435 

whole country by pursuing a policy wMch has not enabled us to keep 
what we once had firmly in hand ? 

The very circumstances under which this Council assembles, by their 
strong contrast with those of the Cambridge Synod, might well suggest 
to us that the time has come for a trial of a difierent policy. The popu- 
lation of the countiy has increased well-nigh a thousand-fold, and even 
our Congregational churches have multiplied ubout a hundred-fold. 
The glorious issue of a glorious war for the defense of our national ex- 
istence has placed our nation in the fore-front among nations, and laid 
upon us a proportionate responsibility in reference to the establishment 
of Christ's kingdom. The same social convulsion which has thrown 
down the hitherto impenetrable barrier to the extension of our princi- 
ples in one half of the country has deprived the great organized and 
governed bodies of churches of no small share of their strength, both of 
members and ol vivifying energy. Let us now realize our opportunity, 
raise ourselves up to the hight of our privilege, look beyond the narrow 
field of denominational aggrandizement, and see what we can do in 
giving to the great fundamental principles of Congregationalism the in- 
fluence they deserve, and which the interests both of religion and of the 
country so perilously need. "We do not now need to seek the guidance 
of Europe, or court its favor ; for Europe now comes to us with its 
explanations and professions, and asks of us the good-will which we are 
ready to give, and the example which they will be glad to follow. We 
no longer stand on the defensive in the presence of presbytery, or prel- 
acy, or itinerancy ; but are able and bound to stand upon our pure 
scriptural basis, and let them apologize as well as they can for their un- 
scriptural usurpations, and their imposition of unlawful burdens which 
the churches are unable and ought not to bear. With our order and 
unity as fiilly recognized and firmly established as the Union and gov- 
ernment of the nation itself ; with our doctrinal soundness and harmony 
in the great principles of Christianity, and freedom and divinity in the 
modes of presentation ; with our learned ministry and numerous col- 
leges and seminaries ; with our educated population and the vast wealth 
diffused among the people ; with our benevolent Boards and Societies 
which have been and are the exemplars of all others ; and with the kind 
favor of God in giving so great prosperity, as well as in pouring out his 
Spirit upon our congregations, — surely it is not becoming for us to offer 
any other explanation or apology for our faith or order than to point at 
their fruits, " known and read of all men." In what remote country or 
in what benighted corner is it necessary to raise an argument or ad- 
duce vouchers to prove that the Congregationalists of the United States 
of America are a body of evangelical Christians, enlightened and benev- 
olent, and worthy of as much respect and confidence as any other body, 
of any other name, or in any other country ? AYith abundant reason to 
be humble before God that our good fruits are so far below our ob- 
ligations, we stand up before all Christian men, and offer and demand 
a perfect and equal reciprocity of respect and confidence and coopera- 
tion. ^Neither is it becoming for us, after the scenes we have passed 



436 REPORT ON CHURCH POLITY. 

through, and the experience we have had in two hundred and fifty 
years, to cherish or allow the continuance of distrust and harassing and 
captious anxiety, lest our freedom of thought, controlled only by the 
government of opinion, should be unable to preserve the soundness of 
the faith, or lest our allowed diversity of gifts and methods of action 
should at length prove incompatible with the Christian unity which is 
practically necessary for our highest usefulness and honor. It is our 
duty now to assume the sufficiency of our ecclesiastical system by boldly 
commending it to others as tried and trustworthy; to commend our 
way to the confidence of others by writing as if we believed it ourselves ; 
to spend as little time or strength as possible in the indulgence of cavils 
and fears; and, in the assurance that we are right, to go forward in the 
most unreserved manner to give the widest influence to our principles, 
and aim to secure at the earliest period the universal adoption of our 
ecclesiastical order by all churches of every name and diversity that have 
a right to be called Christians. 

With this view, and without asking of the Council their publication of 
this report, or any sanction of its statements and reasonings, the under- 
signed recommend that, besides ordering the publishing of the provis- 
ional report, the following resolutions be adopted as embracing the 
declarations and indicating the policy which this body might appro- 
priately put forth in place of the lengthy document referred to the 
committee : — 

Besolved, 1. That the laws of Christ, which give to the individual or 
local societies of believers alone the right of self-government, including 
the election and continuance of their own officers, and the admission and 
retention of members, and the power of discipline for deliquency, nec- 
essarily make such churches alone responsible for the exercise of these 
important ftinctions, and the discharge of these solemn trusts; and from 
this responsibility they can neither discharge themselves, nor is any 
human authority competent to absolve them, with or without their own 
consent. 

2. That the existence of these rights and responsibilities, and all the 
consequent duties and privileges, does not depend upon any compact, 
usage, or human recognition, but solely upon the fact that any society is 
in reality a Church of Christ. 

3. That the duty of individuals or other churches to recognize such 
society as a church of Christ arises from the reasonable evidence they 
have that Christ himself so regards and treats it. 

4. That the relations of fellowship between churches are established 
by the laws of Christ, and do not depend at all upon any agreement 
among themselves, any modes or forms in their organization, any name 
they may assume, as Congregational or any other, or the presence or 
absence of any peculiarities whatever, but arise and attach inseparably 
to every Church of Christ in respect to every other Church of Christ, 
and can neither be remitted by a church, nor dissolved by any human 
authority, usurped or otherwise. 



REPORT ON CHURCH POLITY. 



437 



5. That this Council, representing the body of churches in the United 
States commonly called Congregational, bound together by strong sym- 
pathies and hallowed memories, desire to lay aside all claims, all usages, 
and all sentiments, inconsistent with these principles, solely because they 
are not in accordance with Christ's laws; and we hope to shape our 
future course of action as nearly by this standard as human infirmity 
will allow. 

6. That we cordially invite all other Chiistian churches in this country, 
by their love to Christ and regard for the interests of religion among us, 
to adopt a similar course; to renounce all human authority over them, 
whether presbyterial, prelatical, or itinerant, which would hinder them 
from the exercise of these rights, or the maintenance of these principles ; 
so that we may all stand together and act together as one united brother- 
hood and host of the Lord. 

7. That it is the natural right of the churches, as it is of individuals, 
to form special intimacies, either transitory or permanent, with those to 
whom they are drawn by similarity of views, objects, and habits; but 
this should never be allowed to interfere with the duties of justice, kind- 
ness, and friendly aid, which they owe alike to all who are entitled to the 
name of Christian Churches, irrespective of any peculiarities or differ- 
ences whatever. As surely as they belong to Christ, the things in which 
they agree are immeasurably greater than the things in which they 
differ. And we are all one in Christ Jesus, churches as well as persons, 
and our unity of relatiiDn and consequent duties of fellowship with all 
depend not upon human volition. 

Joshua Leavitt. 

Kev. Mr. Gutlliver, of Connecticut. Before this report passes from 
the hands of the committee, by its acceptance, it seems to me necessary 
that a brief statement should be made of the principles upon which the 
report of the majority has'been founded. The simple effort has been, to 
enable this Council to do as much as it was possible for them to do, by 
way of propounding to the churches a system of church discipline. The 
committee became convinced, at a very early period, that it would be 
utterly impossible, physically impossible, — I think myself, morally im- 
possible, — for this Council to go over the whole of this extended docu- 
ment, covering twenty-seven large and closely-printed pages, and exam- 
ine every item, every expression, every word, noting all omissions, and 
making every emendation that might be deemed desirable, and do this 
work in a manner satisfactory to themselves, or that would be likely to 
be satisfactory to the churches to which it is to be presented. We all 
know how much trouble there has been in bringing to perfection that 
very brief Declaration of Faith, which I understand was adopted this 
morning, and we can easily understand the very great diflSculty there 
would be in perfecting such a document as this, — so multitudinous in its 
details, and so extended in its bulk, — by an assembly of this kind. The 
committee, therefore, gave that up as impossible. They, however, de- 
cided that the following things were possible for the Council : 



438 REPORT ON CHURCH POLITY. 

In the first place, that it was possible for this Council, in the opinion 
of the committee, to form a general estimate of this document; to know 
whether they are prepared to adopt, and to commend to the churches, the 
general principles upon which it is founded. The members of this Coun- 
cil are prepared, after having had this document in their hands for nearly 
a week, to say whether they will adopt and commend the principles con- 
tained in it, or whether they wish to discuss, to propound, and to indorse 
the principles which have been so ably presented in the minority report 
at this time. We can do as much as this. We can give our general ap- 
proval to the general principles and scope of the document now before 
us. 

The committee thought the Council could take another step: that it 
could appoint a committee of twelve (as it has done), which committee, 
in their name, should give that attention to the subject which the great 
body of the Council could not possibly give. That committee was an- 
nounced just a week ago, I believe, and since that time, they have been 
in almost constant session and labor, hardly taking time for sleep, de- 
priving themselves of the enjoyment of nearly all the public proceedings 
of this Council; and they have, collectively and individually, gone over 
that document, article by article, item by item, — some of us going over 
it repeatedly, and with very great care and deliberation. The Council 
could, we thought, through such a committee, designate the points which 
need attention. We did not believe that the Council, through its com- 
mittee, nor any committee in behalf of the Council, could settle all those 
points ; but we did think the committee could do as much as this : they 
could cull out the points that needed further attention, and present them 
to the Council as possibly requiring revision. 

The committee thought the Council could do another thing: that it 
could indicate to the committee such emendations and omissions as indi- 
viduals should think needful. Accordingly, public invitation was given 
in the Council, that such emendations should be suggested to the com- 
mittee. They have been suggested, and they have all been at least 
substantially embraced in the statement which we have made of those 
points in this document which we considered worthy of further attention. 

Then we thought that, after the Council had done all in these various 
steps which it could possibly do at its present session, in its present ca- 
pacity, it might still, for the future, go one step further. It might ap- 
point, by its own selection, and by its own authority, a committee, — a 
large committee, — a committee that should represent the current leaning 
of our denomination in regard to this subject of church polity; and that 
committee, being so appointed by the Council, might complete the work 
which the Council itself could not do; and that the completion of the 
work, the perfecting of these minuter details, could be made known to the 
world under the name and by the authority of the committee thus ap- 
pointed by the Council. 

In this manner, your committee have endeavored to lay out, as dis- 
tinctly as they could, what was possible in regard to this matter on the 
part of the Council, and what was impossible in respect to it, and to 



CHURCH POLITY. 439 

recommend the adoption of a plan which embraces all that is possible, 
so far as we are able to form an opinion concerning it, and excludes all 
that is impossible to you. This is the basis and principle upon which 
the majority report, which has been made in your hearing, is founded. 

Eev. Dr. Leayitt, of New York. I should be glad to make a single 
word of explanation. The document referred to the committee is of the 
nature of a code of practice ; so it would be called by lawyers, I think. 
Having had in my youth some little familiarity with law-books and their 
use, I have endeavored to imagine to myself a convention of lawyers, 
delegated in the proportion of one to every ten from all parts of the 
United States, assembled together to construct a code of practice. Those 
who are familiar with the matter can imagine for themselves what sort 
of a book it would be. Books of practice, with which lawyers are famil- 
iar, are necessarily the product of individual minds, and there are, per- 
haps, a score of them in use, more or less, among lawyers. Some of 
them are small books — duodecimo; some octavo; some two or three 
volumes octavo; more or less extensive, and of greater or less authority, 
according to their estimated worth. 

JSTow, we are not wiser than the children of this world. We can not 
make a code of practice by a convention, nor by a committee, — it is not 
possible. If it is made at all, it will be the product of one, or, possibly, 
of two or three minds, or else it will be a hodge-podge that will make its 
authors a laughing-stock in future generations. I predict that. 

i^ow, sir, a desire is evidently felt to get a code of practice in Congre- 
gationalism that shall possess authority, when all we have said here, 
during all these ten or a dozen days, has been to prove that we have no 
authority in Congregational churches except that of the Scriptui'es. I 
look upon this proposition, — the least injurious that could be made,— to 
appoint a committee of twenty-five leading and learned men to form that 
code, as an 'attempt to clothe the product, which that committee shall 
bring forth, with authority. 

A Membek. I rise to a question of order. Is it in order to discuss 
the merits of this question, before a motion is made? 

Eev. Dr. Leayitt. I don't know that I am going beyond the prece- 
dents. 

The Modekatoe. The question is one of acceptance. I believe the 
speaker is in order. 

Eev. Dr. Patton, of Illinois. I hope he may be heard. 

Eev. Mr. Quint, of Massachusetts. I move that the reports be ac- 
cepted. 

This motion was carried. 

Rev. Dr. Eddy, of Massachusetts, moved that the report of 
the majority be adopted. 

Eev. Mr. Quint, of Massachusetts. While not dilffering very materi- 
ally from the conclusions to which the committee have come, I would 



440 CHURCH POLITY. 

like to take a little time to explain a few things in regard to the report 
of the preliminary committee, which I think ought to be understood. I 
should not presume to do it, in the presence of the venerable man who is 
so much better able to do it than I am, were it not that, as it is well 
known that the main statement was written by him, with scarcely a 
touch by any other hand, he will feel, with his instinctive modesty, a del- 
icacy in saying some things about it, which I can say. 

Allusion has been made to the production of a code of practice, &c. 
I want to say, that the principle on which these documents was pre- 
pared was not that of making a new code of practice, or anything of the 
kind; it was simply to put upon paper, in the clearest way, the princi- 
ples, and, connected therewith, the present usages of the denomination; 
not to legislate or make anything new, but simply to record what is the 
practice of the churches. 

It has been said, in substance, that it is well for us to show what we 
believe in our present system, that people may see it, instead of arguing 
to establish it; but is it any harm for us to put on paper what that sys- 
tem is ? I can not see that it is. There is no attempt here to introduce 
a novelty; I want that understood. Lest brethren should be frightened 
with the idea that there is an attempt to force something new on the 
churches, I will say that there is not a single point in that report that is 
not believed to be the simple, healthy principle of our churches. The 
starting-point was this. There are two principles in our polity. One is, 
the entire completeness of each local church for its own government; 
and the other is, the principle which relates to all those duties and privi- 
leges which grow out of the relation of one church to another. Every- 
thing that conforms to those two principles, everything consistent with 
them, is good Congregationalism; everything opposed to either of them 
is bad Congregationalism. We believe that in this paper there is noth- 
ing that interferes with either of these principles. 

Our system allows flexibility; it is adapted to every place where it is 
needed; but, at the same time, there are fundamental principles which 
will always keep it, in practice, from going far out of the way. These 
are the two principles that have been followed in the report of the pre- 
liminary committee. 

Then the Cambridge Platform has been followed, to a great extent. I 
do not agree with the feeling manifested by Dr. Leavitt, when he speaks 
of its " uncouth phraseology." I do not object to the language because 
there is an antique ring to it; I rather prefer it, — very much as I prefer 
King James's version of the Bible to Sawyer's translation. [Laughter.] 
I don't think that a little spice of a'ntiquity will hurt us, any more than 
I think that the gray hairs, which are quite plenty in this congregation, 
now injure the appearance of this body. As to those fathers not being 
qualified to explain what Congregationalism is, because of their leaning 
to Presbyterianism, I am sorry to say, I differ historically from the 
brother who has spoken of that matter. Some years before that plat- 
form was enunciated, the fathers of Congregationalism were defending 
Congregationalism against Presbyterianism, not leaning to it. There 



CHURCH POLITY. 441 

were one or two ministers who did, but not the bulk. I have books in 
my own library written against Presbyterianism by those very minis- 
ters. They did not attempt to court it. 

Then I don't think these men were ignorant, if they did live two hun- 
dred years ago ; and in reiterating our love for the doctrine and faith 
they held, and for their polity, I don't believe there is any harm in fol- 
lowing that platform. I have felt it was best that this body should as- 
sert some such thing; and I felt it the more strongly when I took up the 
" Independent " of this week, where I found an article from the eloquent 
brother from Connecticut [Kev. J. P. Gulliver], in which he says: 

" "Why then, we must still ask, do we need a platform of discipline, 
emanating from this National CouncU, and the product of its combined 
wisdom ? 

" It is that the polity which now exists may be distinctly enunciated, 
with all the modifications which an experience of more than two centu- 
ries can give. 

" It is that the polity, which is now so well understood by ]S'ew Eng- 
land men, may challenge the attention of all, and command the respect 
which is its due. 

" More than all, it is that the polity which is so abhorrent of the letter 
which killeth, and so instinct with the spirit which giveth life ; the pol- 
ity which is so tolerant of minute variation, and so flexible in its practi- 
cal details, may yet live in its great principles.'''' 

I could not, if I talked all day, find expressions that come closer to the 
truth than these. 

This body could not consider all the details of the report; therefore 
they appointed a committee to consider them fully. I am inclined to 
think that committee was too large. If it had been a committee of three, 
I think they would have come to a conclusion three or four days ago. 
We have seen how it operated in regard to the Declaration of Faith. The 
larger the committee was, the worse we were off", until we got rid of all 
committees on that subject, and then we settled down on something. If 
this committee had been smaller, I think they would have agreed. I 
know, if I was one of a committee of twelve, I should have my pet hobby, 
and ride him very thoroughly. These large committees remind me of 
the story of two deacons, who were supposed to be somewhat obstinate. 
They had a controversy about the location of a school-house, and a great 
deal of alienation arose. At last, after months of trouble about it, one 
of the deacons went over very early one morning to his brother deacon's, 
and said he, " Brother, I haven't slept all night for thinking about this 
matter. It isn't right to differ so about it; we must agree; and, brother, 
you have got to give up, for I can't.'''' [Laughter.] That is very much the 
way with large committees. The result is, that instead of agreeing about 
details, they see any number of questions rising about this matter and that. 
I was amazed at the variety of petty things that were brought up by this 
committee. Nine-tenths of them ought to have been settled in ten min- 
utes. Many of them are perfectly explained in the paper itself. If the 
original committee had been consulted in regard to them, they could in 



442 CHURCH POLITY. 

two minutes have swept off two-thirds of them. When a document has 
been thoroughly studied for months, and extensive correspondence had, 
there may be some expressions that would seem natural to those who 
prepared it, that would not to others ; yet a committee not tenacious of 
mere expressions I think could have shown why they should agree in a 
little time. 

This body, as I said, could not examine all the details, therefore they 
appointed a committee to examine and report about them, which they 
have not done. Little matters about ex parte councils and the like are 
objected to. The very statements that are questioned have passed under 
the eyes, not only of students of these matters, but of legal men, well 
versed in ecclesiastical history, and familiar with our usages. Then, it is 
questioned whether a minister should be a member of his own church. 
That question should not be settled. There are things that we want to 
remain in doubt. We don't want to be tied down in reference to all 
these petty details. While I think a minister better be and ought to be 
a member of his own church, I am not going to complain of any man 
who thinks it is not best, and say he has got to be, or not be a minister. 
There is one thing that might offend somebody, and that is to say that a 
Congregationalist minister ought to be and must be a member of a Con- 
gregationalist church, not of some other church. Such a declaration, I 
can well imagine, might stir up some people. [Laughter.] 

There are a great many of these things ; and I only want to say, that 
this formidable list of questions could be swept off very easily in a few 
moments, and I think they ought to have been swept off. I say this 
without any disrespect to the committee. It was too large; there was 
the great difficulty. This difficulty of working together reminds me of a 
mule team that I saw down near Atlanta last year. There were six of 
them, and when the two in front were pulling, the other four were not; 
and when the two in the center pulled, the two in front and behind stood 
still; and when the two on the pole pulled, the others backed. [Laugh- 
ter.] That is just the way with large committees; you can't get them 
to pull together. 

!N^ow, this committee recommend that we repeat this error. They rec- 
ommend that a large committee — a committee of twenty-five — be ap- 
pointed, to whom this matter shall be referred. IN'ow, if it took them 
eight days to get through, and you appoint this committee of twenty- 
five, you may go home ; you will never see that document again in this 
world. [Laughter.] Dr. Leavitt need not be at all alarmed. 

Eev. Dr. Leayitt. I'm not. 

Rev. Mr. Quint. If you appoint a committee at all, appoint a small 
one. Twenty-five men, scattered all over the country, — when can they 
get together ? 

Eev. Prof Bartlett, of Illinois. The committee were not divided; 
they were substantially agreed. 

Rev. Mr. Quint. I take it back. The committee were agreed. Here 
are twenty-five questions that they couldn't settle, but — the committee 
were agreed. If you appoint this large committee, you may order them 



CHURCH POLITY. . 443 

to report to the National Council that will be held one hundred and 
eighty-five years from now, — it would be of no use to expect it sooner. 
[Laughter.] If this report is to go out in the way suggested, appoint a 
committee of five, and they will be able to agree, and accomplish the 
work. 

And I will venture to suggest another thing. I do not like the sug- 
gestion in this report, that the chairman of that preliminary committee, 
learned as he is in this whole matter, shall be deliberately excluded from 
this committee. 

I will close by moving, as an amendment, that instead of a committee 
of twenty-five, there be a committee of five appointed, to whom this 
whole matter shall be intrusted. 

Rev. Prof. Bartlett, of Illinois. I wish merely to say a word or 
two in regard to our course. It is very evident from the speech just 
made, that if there had been a very small committee, and that a commit- 
tee of one, and that committee the speaker, the whole thing would have 
been settled. 

It is, perhaps, courteous, Mr. Moderator, for these remarks to be 
made in reference to " mule teams," and things of that kind; and it may 
be modest for an individual to speak in this way of a committee who have 
labored carefully upon this document, and now present the result of 
their deliberations; — I leave that to the body to judge. Our report is 
not founded upon disagreement; it is founded upon a careful examina- 
tion of the document, article by article, conjointly and individually. I 
do not wish to open the whole subject of the document, with all its con- 
tents ; but we deliberately concluded that the matters requiring revision 
were not superficial. We stand in that judgment eleven men, with no 
parental or personal relation to it. Our deliberate opinion is, that while 
it is an able document, of great depth and comprehensiveness, — no 
doubt as able as any three gentlemen in this body could have prepared, — 
it still contains omissions that are, in the judgment of each of these 
eleven gentlemen, important omissions; and we have specified those 
points. We also thought that some of the statements, — important fun- 
damental statements, too, — required careful revision. We found some 
of them questionable, some loose, some contradictory. As, for example, 
in the second chapter, where it is stated, in the first paragraph, that 
"The visible church consists of those who belong to Christ; " declaring 
them to be, " in the phrase of our ancient platform, ' saints by calling,' " 
whereas the Cambridge Platform declares that they are those who, " in 
charitable discretion may be accounted saints by calling." And the next 
article declares the visible saints to be those who " make a credible pro- 
fession of religion." And so I might go through the document. Our 
judgment was unanimous, that there were several articles which needed 
revision. These twenty-five points enumerated include a great many 
other points, so that they amount to forty or upwards. We found that 
we could not put these matters into proper shape at this time, and it 
seemed to us that any document which we could lay before you, which 
might then be passed, would be passed very unintelligently and unad- 



444 CHURCH POLITY. 

visedly. It seemed to me, for one, that that would not be in accord- 
ance with our Congregational usage. It seemed to me that a document 
so voluminous, not to say luminous, — twenty-seven solid pages, — could 
not be adjusted by us as it ought to be done. There were brethren who 
thought it could be done, and we entered upon the trial. "We labored 
together five or six days, and then those brethren who were most enthu- 
siastic in the belief that this could be made all right, and polished for 
acceptance and adoption here, were convinced it could not be done. 
Some of us felt, too, that, under the circumstances, it was more congre- 
gational, after having expressed our view of the substance of doctrine, 
to refer this document to a committee, carefully selected, who should 
then put it forth, not as the authoritative utterance of this whole Council, 
which would be an entire revolution, but as the utterance of able men, 
carefully selected, deliberately considering, and also deliberately and pro- 
tractedly consulting together. That was our idea : that these individuals 
should take time ; consider profoundly ; go to their friends and invite sug- 
gestions ; gather all these thoughts, and then come together as a whole, 
and take a week, or two or three or four weeks ; and then, having got 
the voice of the committee, in conference with these able men as well as 
others, get the united voice of the churches as far as might be, and then 
produce a document which should bear all the weight to which it was 
entitled from the character of the men and the deliberation they had 
expended upon it, and no more. That, in my judgment, is the true 
theory of Congregationalism. 

Kev. Prof. Park, of Massachusetts. I have only one word to say. 
I know that I speak as a " mule; " my only hope is, that I may speak as 
a respectable one. [Laughter.] 

Kev. Dr. Patto:n', of Illinois. Does that mean a Calvinistic mule ? 

Kev. Prof. Pakk. I don't know how any one could be more respect- 
able than that. I am glad that the Council have been informed that 
these questions are not proposed because the committee could not agree 
upon the topics alluded to. We did not wish to express our disagreement 
with the preliminary committee in a bold manner, in a mulish manner, 
and therefore we have suggested our opinion on topics to be considered. 
And one reason why some of the questions were proposed is this : that 
there are varieties of usage, and great varieties of opinion with regard 
to some of them. The question which has been alluded to is one: 
" Should a minister belong to his own church ? " There are some coun- 
cils which will not ordain a minister unless he will promise to belong to 
the church over which he is pastor ; and there are some councils which 
will not ordain a minister if he does belong to the church over which he 
is pastor. JSTow, this is an apparent difference of opinion! [Laughter.] 
It appears to the committee, Mr. Moderator, that where such great diversi- 
ties of usage exist, they should be stated, and the reasons for one usage 
and the reasons for another usage be stated, and preference be given to 
one over another, provided there be any such preference found in the 
minds of the able men who may be appointed to present this document 
to the world. They think, sir, that there are many instances in which 



CHURCH POLITY. 445 

there are the greatest diversities among the churches, and that those 
instances may very properly be specified in the document that this 
Council may issue. 

I think, sir, that whatever document is published under the express or 
implied sanction of this Council will have very great influence. It will 
have, doubtless, more influence than our opinions as a Council really 
merit. We are a multitudinous body ; we are in Boston during the 
heat of summer ; and it is impossible for us to give that attention to that 
document which we might give indi\idually, each one in his own study. 
Still the document will be considered as having the authority of the 
Council. JS'ow we propose that it be published under the superintend- 
ence of a committee appointed by this Council ; but yet, this committee 
will not be considered as having the authority of the Council for all their 
utterances. We desire it to be a large committee in consequence of the 
great variety of usage in the country, and in consequence of the great 
variety of opinions in different parts of the country ; and we have sup- 
posed that the different parts of the country would consider themselves 
better represented by this large committee than if we had a small one. 
Then, sir, there may be, as it appears to the committee, many references 
to be made and books to be consulted in regard to it, and it -is no small 
labor to impose upon any one man, or any two or three men, to collect 
these references and properly adjust them. We supposed that the work 
might be divided and sub-divided, in such a manner that the labor would 
not be so great but that each one of the committee could easily endure 
it. We thought, also, that' the influence of the document would be 
greater on our missionary stations, and in courts of law, if it came under 
the careful supervision of a large committee, who will have the benefit 
of the suggestions made by all the members of this Council, and by the 
different churches to whom this document, prepared by the committee, 
and under consideration by the Council, may be sent, and who may di- 
rect to the committee of twenty or twenty-five their hints and sugges- 
tions. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. Although I have very little sensi- 
bihty, parental, in regard to the fate of this document, I think, at the 
same time, I might be excused for having a great deal ; for I may say it 
has cost me a great deal of labor, and if, instead of bringing it here, I 
had kept it, the copyright of it, I think, would have been worth $500 to 
me. At any rate, the labor I have bestowed upon it I might have 
bestowed in a way to make it worth all of that to me. I might, there- 
fore, perhaps, be excused if I had a little parental sensibility in regard to 
its fate. 

I took my first lesson in Congregationalism, in reality, from the author 
of this minority report. The whole modern development of Congrega- 
tionalism, as I conceive, even that which has resulted in the convocation 
of this assembly, really proceeded from an article which was written by 
that brother, and published in the " Quarterly Christian Spectator," at 
New Haven, in the year 1830. Prior to that, I, having been educated at 
the feet of Gamaliel, (Dr. Woods), at Andover,had no more conception 



446 ' CHURCH POLITY. 

of Congregationalism than other people educated in the same way. 
[Laughter.] But I have from that time to this been profoundly and 
increasingly interested in the Congregational church order, in its 
natural growth and development from its roots, which are its first princi- 
ples, and in the distinction between the Congregational form and concep- 
tion of church order and polity, and that of every other sort and name; 
and the great incumbrance upon Congregationalism, almost from the 
time when the Cambridge Platform was shaped and laid down, — almost 
the greatest incumbrance upon its progress has been that the working 
of it has been confided to the hands of a ministry who either did not 
imderstand it or did not believe in it. I go back (not in my personal 
recollection exactly) to the time when, in Connecticut, the Congrega- 
tional churches and ministers were called Presbyterian. I think I could 
take down in the Congregational Library a volume of sermons, or some 
such work, by the immediate predecessor of Dr. Hawes, who styled him- 
self " Pastor of the North Presbyterian Church in Hartford ; " and I 
recollect seeing, a few years ago, a certificate signed by Dr. ISTathan 
Strong, and Dr. Nathan Perkins, of West Hartford, and another d. d., 
or a person of the same standing, certifying that the churches of Con- 
necticut were Presbyterian. That is where we were a few years ago ; 
and for a long time we have been trying to tinker up Congregationalism 
by borrowing, — and the process is not ended yet ; — borrowing a usage 
or a principle from Presbyterianism ; borrowing some little bit of ritual, 
perhaps, from Episcopalianism ; — borrowing in this direction and borrow- 
ing in that, instead of developing our system from its original ideas, in 
which it has its whole being, as the chicken is in the egg and the oak in 
the acorn. 

I think the work of that Cambridge Synod which produced the plat- 
form of 1648 was not adequately represented by the author of the mi- 
nority report at all. That synod met first in 1646. That, by the way, 
Mr. Moderator, was the only National Synod or Council of the Congre- 
gational churches that ever met in America. The subsequent synod — 
that of 1662 — was a Massachusetts Synod, and neither Connecticut nor 
New Haven was represented in it. Nay, under the influence of John 
Davenport, my predecessor, the whole colony of New Haven sent a 
remonstrance against the aim and objects of that memorable body. So the 
synod of 1680 was a Massachusetts Synod, as much so as that of 1708, 
which made the Saybrook Platform, was a Connecticut Synod. That 
Cambridge Synod met first in 1646, continued in session about a fort- 
night, discussing matters, elaborating, making its prej^arations, and then, 
at the end of that time, appointed a committee to draw up a platform. 
They met again in 1647,. but remained in session only a very short time, 
the prevalence of an epidemic disease throughout New England break- 
ing up the synod, — an epidemic of which, that very season, Thomas 
Hooker died at Hartford. Then it met a third time in 1648, and after 
sitting as long as we have now, it resulted in that memorable and most 
important document, the Cambridge Platform. The same synod, at 
the same time, declared its assent to the substance of doctrine con- 



CHURCH POLITY. 447 

tained in the "Westminster Confession. It was not with the idea of 
concihating Presbyteriauism that that synod was called, I apprehend. 
The Congregational element was just beginning to be developed. 

At this point, the hour of adjournment (6^) having arrived, 
Dr. Bacon yielded the floor, and after singing the Doxology, the 
Council adjourned. 

TEKTH DAY, SATUEDAY, JUKE 24. 

The Council met at 9 o'clock, and prayer was offered by the 
Moderator. 

The minutes were read, and, some corrections having been 
made, approved. 

Rev. Mr. Quint, from the Business Committee, reported the 
order of business for the day, with a recommendation that 
speeches be limited to eight minutes. This was amended by 
reducing the time to five minutes, and the report adopted. 

Eev. Dr. Thompso:n-, of Kew York. Yesterday, sir, the duty of re- 
plying to that admirable document from Boston, England, was intrusted 
to yourself, with the Assistant Moderators ; and now, in the name of us 
all, I beg to move that the document be referred, instead, to a committee 
of pastors in this city, in order that the local references from old Boston 
to new Boston may be properly considered. I would suggest the names 
of Dr. Blagden, Dr. Kirk, and the Scribe, Mr. Dexter, who will give an 
official signature for the body. 

This motion was carried. 

Dr. Sweetser, chairman of the committee on Ministerial Ed- 
ucation, presented a resolution, recommending that the resolu- 
tion submitted to them in reference to collegiate and theologi- 
cal institutions at the West be referred to a special committee. 
Adopted. 

CHUKCH POLITY. 

Eev. Mr. Gulliver, of Connecticut (Dr. Bacon yielding the floor). 
There are two or three points that need to be brought up here, and I 
think they will very much facilitate the business we have now before us. 
A paper was referred to this committee, by vote of the Council, which 
never came before the committee, in reference to the preparation of a 
Catechism; and the committee desire, so far as I have been able to see 
them, — and I know it will be their unanimous desire, — to amend their 
report by inserting that as one of the items, if there is a general assent 
thereto. 

There is another point. The committee, in the report which was pre- 



448 CHURCH POLITY. 

sented to them yesterday afternoon by their sub-committee, found a pro- 
vision that Dr. Bacon and Mr. Quint should constitute a joint committee 
with the committee of twenty-five, having certain powers superior to 
that committee. That proposition was considered very objectionable, 
and the result was, that in the haste of our deliberations, at the close, 
they appear to have been cut off from that committee entirely. I am 
not able to speak now in the name of the committee, but I can as an 
individual member of that committee, with the approbation of all whom 
I have been able to see, make this suggestion, which I do in the form of 
an amendment to the proposition to appoint a committee of twenty-five, 
— that this Council re-appoint the committee previously appointed by 
the meeting in New York, — Dr. Bacon, Mr. Quint, and Dr. Storrs, — 
and that that committee be enlarged by the addition of those members. 

Another point. Brother Quint [absent in committee] wishes me to 
say that, upon explanations, he has changed his view with regard to the 
number of which this committee should consist, and desires me to with- 
draw, in his name, the amendment he proposed. That brings us back to 
the original proposition, that a committee of twenty-five be appointed, 
and the amendment to that, namely, that the original committee be re- 
appointed and added to the committee of twenty-five, making twenty- 
eight in all. I am prepared to give reasons, which I think will be en- 
tirely satisfactory to this Council, as they have been to brother Quint, 
why there should be a committee of this size. 

Rev. Mr. Bmm, of Connecticut. I would inquire whether it is in- 
tended that Dr. Bacon shall be chairman of that committee ? 

Rev. Mr. Gulliver. That follows, necessarily. 

Rev. Prof. Bartlett, of Illinois. I would inquire whether that is a 
correct statement, — whether it is not always in the power of a committee 
to choose its own chairman ? 

Rev. Mr. Gulliver. That is the way it struck my mind; that is the 
expectation. 

The Moderator. In reply to Prof. Bartlett, I will say, that I un- 
derstand that it is competent for any committee to appoint its own 
chairman, unless the body appointing that committee designate the 
chairman. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. I am altogether at a loss. I find a 
rule that every speaker shall be limited to five minutes ; and I don't see 
that I can do any good whatever by speaking five minutes, or help any- 
body to a conclusion. 

Rev. Dr. Dutton, of Connecticut. I move that that rule be suspend- 
ed in the case of Dr. Bacon, who was chairman of the committee and 
wrote the report, and certainly has a right to explain it. 

This motion was passed. 

Rev. Dr. Bacon. Gratefully acknowledging the kindness of the 
Council toward me, I desire to be interrupted if my remarks are pro- 
tracted beyond any reasonable limit, as there is danger that they will 



CHURCH POLITY. 449 

be, because I can not judge as well as the brethren can as to the amount 
of what I say nor the pertinency of it. 

I was speaking, last evening, about the Cambridge Platform — the 
origin of it and the meaning of it; and I have taken the liberty to bring 
here this morning the record of the Massachusetts Colonial Government, 
which called that synod; and the intention with which that synod was 
assembled is upon the record, and will be suggestive to us in relation to 
the business now before us. It reads thus: 

" The right form of church government and discipline being a good 
part of the kingdom of Christ upon earth, the settling and establishing 
thereof by the joint and public agreement and consent of churches, and 
by the sanction of civil authority, must needs greatly conduce to the 
honor and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the settling and safety 
of church and commonwealth where such a duty is duly attended and 
performed ; and inasmuch as times of public peace, which by the mercy 
of God are vouchsafed to these plantations (but how long the same may 
continue we do not know), are much more commodious for the effecting 
of such a work than these troublesome times of war and of public disturb- 
ances thereby, as the example of our dear native country doth witness at 
this day, where, by reason of the public occasion and troubles of the 
state, the reformation of religion and the establishing of the same is 
greatly retarded, and at the best can not be perfected without much diffi- 
culty and danger; and whereas divers of our Christian countrymen and 
friends in England, both of the ministry and others, considering the state 
of things in this country in regard of peace and otherwise, have sundry 
times, out of their brotherly faithfulness, love, and care of our well-do- 
ing, earnestly by letters from thence solicited and called upon us that we 
would not neglect- the opportunity which God hath put into our hands 
for the effecting of so glorious and good a work as is mentioned, whose 
advertisements are not to be passed over without due regard had there- 
unto, and considering withal that through want of the things here spoken 
of, some differences of opinion and practice of one church from another 
do already appear amongst us, and others, if not timely prevented, are 
like speedily to ensue, and this not only in lesser things, but even in 
points of no small consequence, and very material, to instance " — then 
follow some particulars. 

"Therefore, for the further healing and preventing of the further 
growth of the said differences, and upon the other grounds, and for the 
other ends aforementioned, and although this Court make no question of 
their lawful power by the Word of God to assemble the churches, or 
their messengers, upon occasion of counsel for anything which may con- 
cern the practice of the churches, yet because all members of the church- 
es, though godly and faithful, are not yet clearly satisfied, it is therefore 
thought expedient for the present occasion not to make use of that pow- 
er, but rather hereby declare it to be the desire of this present General 
Court, that there be a public assembly of the elders and other messen- 
gers of the several churches within this jurisdiction, who may come 
together and meet at Cambridge upon the first day of September now 

29 



450 



CHURCH POLITY. 



next ensuing," &c. (Records of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, vol. 
ill. pp. 70-72.) 

Afterward, there is a section inviting the plantations under the juris- 
diction of Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven, to send there the 
leaders and messengers of their churches also. 

It appears plainly enough from what I have just read, that one object 
which the framers of the Cambridge Platform had in view was to give 
light and help to their friends in England, who were then contending 
against the Scotchmen or Presbyterians — against the attempt to bring 
the " Solemn League and Covenant " into England, and by the force of 
that " Solemn League and Covenant," to establish what was called a 
" covenanted uniformity " of doctrine and of discipline throughout the 
three kingdoms, England, Wales, and Scotland. That " covenanted uni- 
formity " is sought for, quarreled for, and suffered for to this day. Con- 
gregationalism was spoken of, in old England, as " the way of the Kew 
England brethren." It was understood that there was a way they had 
in Scotland, which they had borrowed from Geneva and the continent, 
and there was another way, which the brethren who had moved from the 
Old World into the ISTew, for the purpose of practicing, as they expressed 
it, " the positive part of church reformation," had struck out here in the 
wilderness ; and it was for the sake of setting out that way, in a clear 
light, not only for themselves, but also for their friends in England, that 
this Cambridge Synod or National Council was called. And I may say 
here, that the whole history of the Congregationalism of England, and 
the present status of it, as compared with the history and present status 
of the Congregationalism of New England, have not been such as to in- 
duce me to seek, as yet, for the model of Congregationalism in old Eng- 
land, as the report of the minority of the committee seems inclined to do. 
Our Congregationalism is not Brownism. Brownism is older than Con- 
gregationalism, in one sense ; older, except as Congregationalism is as 
old as the apostles. Brownism was the great step forward in the discus- 
sions and inquiries which resulted in that boon that was given to our 
fathers, — free Congregationalism; and Brownism is essentially the 
scheme that is set before us in the report of the minority as that which 
will bring in the millennium straightway. Brown hit upon a capital 
idea, — the idea of the duty of church reformation, — to be practiced by 
everybody, without waiting for government. There was the point of 
division between the " Separatists," or " Brownists," as they were called, 
indiscriminately, and the Puritans. The Puritans were waiting and 
waiting for the government to reform the church. That was their posi- 
tion. The " Separatists " took up Brown's principle, namely, that every 
man was to reform for himself, and that the State had nothing to do with 
it. In that principle lies the germ of Congregationalism, and the germ 
of all our liberty to-day, civil and religious, — in the idea that every man 
was to practice for himself the 'reformation of the church, — in the idea 
of the freedom of the church, not by asking leave of Csesar or of Eliza- 
beth, but by asking leave only of the Lord Jesus Christ; and that is 
where we stand. 



CHURCH POLITY. 451 

But it is not given to any one man to discover the whole continent of 
truth. Columbus discovered the West India Islands, and we call him the 
discoverer of America, — and he was buried in Cuba. It is one of his 
followers who is said to have discovered the continent which bears his 
name. Brown only discovered an outlying island, as it were ; a conti- 
nent lies beyond it, and we acquired the continent. I have no notion, for 
one, of going back, with the author of that minority report, to the Uttle 
island where Brown was. [Applause.] 

^ow, not to take up too much time, let me suggest, briefly, this : 
The report has in it, I may say, three leading ideas or principles, and I 
want a distinct expression of the Council as to the correctness of those 
three leading principles. The first is the principle of the autonomy of 
every particular church or worshiping assembly of Christians, perma- 
nently embodied and organized ; that there is no church other than the 
parochial Congregational church, organized for government ; that no 
church censure, or admonition, or excommunication, no ordination of a 
minister, no inauguration or deposition of church oflicers, can be had by 
any other authority than that of the particular or local church. That is 
the first principle, out of which our whole moral system proceeds ; but 
that is not the only principle. That is the principle of the minority re- 
port, in reality ; there is a word or two said of fellowship. 

The next great principle is the principle of the communion of churches 
one with another ; and the development of that principle, added to the 
development of the first, makes Congregationalism. And there lies the 
difference between the Congregationalism of oSTew England and the 
Congregationalism of Old England — in the development or application 
of the principle of the union of churches one with another. Do we hold 
that principle ? The brethren in England hold it vaguely, generally, 
obscurely, in a sense, as it is held forth vaguely, obscurely, indefinitely, 
and in a manner incapable of application, in the report of the minority. 
It is the definiteness with which we hold that principle which makes us 
one body, and which gives us power to recognise one another, and to act 
together as a common body, in mutual confidence. In the Cambridge 
IDlatform, that principle of the common union of churches one vrith an- 
other is developed theoretically, When that synod met, less than tAventy 
years from the landing at Charlestown, the question of the communion 
of churches one with another was the great theoretical question before 
them, the great question of the future, the great question for England 
as well as for themselves, and they de^'eloped that principle as well as 
they could in their one chapter on "The Communion of Churches 
one with another." In this new draft which has been submitted to the 
Council, that chapter is extended into one distinct part or division 
of the entire scheme, the parts being — first, some few general prin- 
ciples and definitions ; second, the autonomy of the particular or 
local church ; thirdly, the communion of churches one with another, and 
their mutual responsibility. First, the theory, which is essentially the 
«ame with that of the Cambridge platform ; second, the development of 
the theory, which gives occasion (1.) for a chapter on Councils, (2.) a 
chapter on Conferences, and (3.) a chapter on National Councils. 



452 CHURCH POLITY. 

Now, I want to secure the attention of the brethren, before we take 
a vote upon the subject, to this question : Do we believe in the impor- 
tance of the communion of the churches one with another, as that idea 
has been developed and applied in the experience of the two hundred 
and seventeen years that have elapsed since the Cambridge platform was 
formed ? Do we believe in it ? I do, for one ; and I believe in it so 
firmly that I will have nothing to do with any body or (as the word is 
here) denomination, — I do not like the word, but I use it because it 
seems to be intelligible, — I will have nothing to do with any denomina- 
tion of Congregationalists in which that principle of the communion of 
churches one with another, and their responsibility to give account of 
their proceedings one to another, in all matters of common interest, is 
not recognized and acknowledged. [Applause.] 

Now how do our brethren in England ordain their ministers ? Ac- 
cording to my understanding of it, a church elects its pastor and ordains 
him, and it is nobody's business who he is or what he is. According to 
our principle, the church elects its pastor and ordains him, and it is the 
business of all the churches who he is and what he is ; and the church 
that ordains him is responsible to all the churches to give an account 
whom it is that they elect to that oflSce, and of his ordination — what he 
is, what theology he holds, what faith, what principles of order, — what 
qualifications he has by nature, by education, and by the grace of God 
for the performance of that duty ; and if a church, falling back on its 
reserved rights, its extreme powers, says : " We will have nothing to do 
with other churches, we will elect whom we please to be our minister, 
and we will turn him away when we please," we say, " Yery well, only 
you don't ride in our troop, that 's all." [Applause.] 

So if the Mt. Yernon Church excommunicates a man, and the Old 
South Church takes that man into its communion the next Sabbath, there 
is a breach of fellowship between those two churches. There is no 
remedv or redress in such cases among our English brethren, as I under- 
stand their system — no help ; but these churches must stand frowning 
over one against the other, and stand in perpetual opposition and hos- 
tility until Time comes to heal the wound. Our system is otherwise. 
We say, that if a man is excommunicated from this church, he shall not 
be received into any other church in fellowship with this, without the 
intervention of a council to examine the case, and to give advice to this 
church, and to give advice to the person who has been excommuni- 
cated ; and if this church refuses to follow the advice, then the person 
has his redress, and may be received into the Old South Church, or any 
other church that sees fit to receive him — not because the council has 
put him in there, but because the council has examined into the case, 
and is of opinion that the fellowship of the churches will not be broken 
by one of them receiving that man to communion 

I refer to these things for the sake of showing what our system is. 
We have no power over a particular church but the power of the church 
of Christ and the authority of the Scriptures ; and then these individual 
churches, all responsible to Christ alone, all deriving their powers di- 



CHURCH POLITY. 453 

rectly from Christ, recognising the obligations of good neighborhood and 
mutual fellowship, and recognising their duty, whenever called upon in 
an orderly way, to give an account of any of their proceedings to each 
other. 

I have been a member, in my life-time, I believe, of three ex parte 
councils. One was in this wise. A man had been expelled from a 
church in Brooklyn, ^N'ew York. He thought he was unjustly and un- 
scripturally dealt with, and had a long argument to show it. He asked 
the church to unite with him in calKng a council, and the church said the 
case was plain enough, they didn't want any help in it, and they w^ouldn't 
call a council. He called an ex parte council, and the church was 
courteous enough to appear before us, and explain its proceedings. It 
turned out that the man was a very troublesome church member ; he 
was always making motions ; he didn^t like the minister, and was 
very troublesome indeed, — and if I had been the minister I should have 
wanted to get rid of him very much. At last the church got out of pa- 
tience with him, and a motion was made that he be excommunicated, 
and that he have ten minutes to reply to that motion [Laughter] ; so that 
he was excommunicated after the fashion of a drum-head court-martial. 
"Was that right ? According to the report of the minority of this com- 
mittee, the man would have had no redress whatever, and it would have 
been no interruption of order, no violation of any comity to a brolher, 
for that church to have voted in that way. 

Another instance of an ex parte council was in this wise. A church 
(there are a good many members here who will recollect the case I now 
refer to), had got into trouble — lots of it — and had been wrangling, and 
going like a machine when one of the principal wheels is broken ; and 
at last, by calling in all the women and children to vote, they voted out 
just about a moiety of the members of the church, without trial, if I 
recollect the story right; but whether it is right or wrong, it is good 
enough for an illustration. Then they said, " We are independent, and 
don't want any council about this ; we are an independent church, and 
wont have any council." Now, I say, if a church says it is independent, 
and wont have any counsel, then it don't belong to us — we have nothing 
to do with it [Applause] ; and wherever that church is, whether it be in 
Boston, in New York, in Chicago, or in San Francisco, it don't belong to 
what we call our denomination 

Then we had another instance quite recently, in the place where I live, 
where there was a similar division of a church, and the majority, which 
was constituted by calling in the women and children to vote, having 
settled a minister in defiance of the communion of the churches, who 
assumed to call himself pastor of the church and all that kind of thing, 
refused to recognize the right of the claim to be heard by a majority of 
the brethren on the ground. Well, the council decided — and it was a 
large council, called from all parts of the State — that a church which 
proceeded in that manner and fashion was not, in the common accepta- 
tion of the word, a Congregational church, and the churches of Connec- 
ticut have followed the advice of that council, so far as I know, without 



454 CHURCH POLITY. 

a disseuiting voice. That churcli claimed to be an independent church, 
and so it was; but independency, in that sense, is not Congregationalism. 

There is one point more in the scheme of discipline, of order and fel- 
lowship, which is laid down in the report which was submitted to this 
body ; namely, that there is recognised among us a ministry, a profes- 
sional ministry, consisting of men devoted and consecrated by ordination 
to the work of preaching the gospel. That is not in the Cambridge 
Platform. It was not really in the theory of the founders of the New 
England churches, for they did not see, in all respects, the working and 
application of their own principles. They held to lay preaching — what 
they called " prophesying," — but they did not see how to recognise any 
man as a minister of the gospel who was not an officer of the church. 
That distinction is clearly made in the document under consideration. 
A man may be a minister of the gospel who has received the right-hand 
of fellowship. He may be employed in the work of the ministry in 
foreign missions. Eliot, the apostle to the Indians, was pastor of a 
church over here in Eoxbury as long as he lived. The churches at that 
time had no idea that a man could really be an ordained missionary, a 
missionary having the powers of a minister of the church, unless he was 
an oflflcer in the church. 

We have outgrown that, and it is an inevitable necessity for us to out- 
grow it. We have none of the fear which they had, that a ministry 
would be a hierarchy. Our churches have grown to age, and can take 
care of themselves. There is no danger of a hierarchy; and the fact 
that Dr. Leavitt is a minister of the gospel gives him no power or juris- 
diction in the church of which he is a member, but that which belongs 
to his judgment, intelligence, learning, and personal character; and so 
of any other minister. Dr. Anderson here, is a minister, and a member 
of a church, but he is an officer in no church, and has no more power in 
the church of which he is a member than any other member. That is 
the distinction which is clearly laid down and insisted upon in the docu- 
ment under consideration. 

Now, are the members of this body, as a body, ready to adopt these prin- 
ciples : fir^t, that a church is a church, and there is no other ; no church 
but a congregation of believers, ordinarily consisting of those who can 
meet for worship in one place, and whose affairs are managed by one 
administration; no- church government including a great many congre- 
gations, governed by a representative assembly ; no church governed by 
a synod ; no church governed by a prelate, and stretching over a diocese ; 
no national or ecumenical church, governed by a pope or by a council; 
but only the local church ? Are we ready for that ? Are we ready for 
this — that the local church has no power but what it has a warrant for 
from Christ ? — that no church has a right to enact any rules or by-laws 
which are inconsistent with or additional to the New Testament ? If we 
are not, we can not go on. If we insist that the local church may make 
itself something besides a church of Christ, if we insist that it can under- 
take to run an india-rubber factory, for example, or that it may under- 
take to mine and " strike ile " [Laughter], or anything of that kind, then, 



CHURCH POLITY. 455 

SO far forth, it ceases to be a church; and if it assumes to be anything 
other than a Kew Testament church of Christ, it is guilty of usurpation 
over its members. 

That is the first great principle : that a church is a churchy and derives 
its power and authority from Christ, — not from a voluntary compact, — 
mind that! Not that a certain number of men may come together and 
say, " TVe will be a church, and we will be a political organization, too; we 
will be a church, and we will build a railroad at the same time; we will 
be a church, and we will be something else." That kind of voluntary com- 
pact does not make a church. A church is made simply by the members 
of it agreeing — expressly or impliedly agreeing — to walk together in 
one assembly, under the rules of the New Testament, trusting in Christ, 
doing his work together, helping one another, administering the Word and 
the sacraments. We hold that. Do we also hold the communion of 
churches ? 

Do we also recognize a ministry — a ministry with no powers, no pre- 
rogatives, no jurisdiction or authority over the churches ? If we do, 
then we have got the essential things of the platform before us ; and I hope 
that the Council will so far adopt the platform (if I may call it so) that has 
been submitted here, as to be understood distinctly as sanctioning these 
three principles. If so, the matters of detail will be easily adjusted. 

I will say here, that some of the things which seem to have stumbled 
the committee are misiDrints, — clerical or typographical mistakes. For 
example: there is a word left out in the first part of chap. i. jjart 2. 
" The visible church consists of those who belong to Christ," &c. It 
should read, " The visible church consists of those who visibly belong to 
Christ." That was commented on yesterday, and very properly. It is 
simply a case of omission. I mention this as an illustration of similar 
errors which have crept into the report that lies before you; and for that 
reason alone, even if it were adopted entire, and without qualification, it 
ought to be referred to some such committee as is here proposed, to be 
perfected. — I ask pardon for having sjDoken so long. 

Eev. Mr. Allejt, of Massachusetts. I wish an explanation from Dr. 
Bacon himself, lest we should misunderstand him on an important mat- 
ter; and that is, in relation to the position of unsettled ministers. Are 
they regarded by the principle laid down by Dr. Bacon as still ministers 
of the gospel, or as brethren only ? The ministers don't all know where 
they belong. This body, according to the call, was to be composed of 
pastors and delegates from the churches, — meaning those not pastors. 
Now, the question has risen repeatedly in this body, whether ministers 
were authorized to be chosen under that call. 

Eev. Dr. Bacon. Certainly. 

Bev. Mr. Allejt. If that is admitted, that is all. 

Eev. Dr. Beecher, of Illinois. There are special reasons why I 
made an effort to obtain the floor; I will state what those reasons are. 

Before the National Council had been called, the General Association of 
the State of Illinois put in operation a train of measures designed to pro- 
duce or procure a work on Congregationalism, adapted to the wants of 



456 CHURCH POLITY. 

the West, — adapted to the field in which they were laborers. I was 
chairman of the committee the first year, and made a report to the meet- 
ing at Quincy, which report was accepted. In that report, I laid before 
them the outline of two works, — one a large work, the other a manual 
based upon the large work. Both were adopted by the General Asso- 
ciation, and I was requested to finish the large work on my own respon- 
sibility, and to finish the manual and report it to them. I reported the 
manual to the General Association of Illinois, at their meeting at Peoria, 
just before the meeting of this Council. The report was accepted and 
adopted, but, at my suggestion and request, was recommitted, in order 
that I might attend the meeting of the Kational Council, and hear what 
should be presented there. A proposition was also made to instruct the 
representatives of that association to request this body to have the man- 
ual, which had been laid before the Association, read before this Council. 
To this I objected, inasmuch as there was a course inaugurated, and I 
felt, from the ability of the committee that had been appointed, that it 
would be thoroughly carried out, and I preferred not to seem to inter- 
fere or to commingle myself with that movement. I am now called upon 
to vote with regard to the proposition that is before you; and in order 
that I may justify the vote which I feel it is important to have passed in 
this assembly, I ask the liberty of stating, in brief, what it was that the 
General Association of Illinois instructed me to do, and what, in the 
opinion of the Association, it is important should be done. A part of that 
work would be accomplished by that report; a part would not be accom- 
plished. To meet the wants of Congregationalism at the West, which, 
after a residence there of twenty-four years, I think I understand, it is 
important that certain things should be done, and they should be done in 
a way in which they would not be likely to be done by an individual who 
has grown up in the midst of the Congregationalism of Massachusetts 
and Connecticut, and has not resided at the West. As the new fields — 
missionary fields — are specially important at this time, so it is specially 
important that Congregationalism shall be contemplated in reference to 
aggressive movements ; or, if not aggressive, that they shall be move- 
ments in which the system shall be so presented as that it shall be best 
adapted to carry the convictions of those to whom the document shall 
be presented. 

The five minutes having expired, on motion of Dr. Patton, the 
Council voted to allow Dr. Beecher fifteen minutes more, in 
view of the relations sustained by him to the whole subject at 
the West. 

Rev. Dr. Beecher resumed: In order, then, that I may distinctly 
bring before this body those things which it seemed important to the 
General Association of our State should be done, I will in the first place 
read an outline of the large book I reported to them, and upon the basis 
of which outline the manual was prepared, which was reported at the 



CHURCH POLITY. 457 

last meeting of the Association. After having, in the first place, given a 
general view of the works on Congregationalism which have authority 
among us, both in England and in this country, coming down as late as 
the correspondence and works by Brother Dexter and by Brother Qj^int, 
and others who have written in the " Congregational Quarterly " (cover- 
ing the ground up to that date), I proceeded: 

" There is reason to believe that the providence of God demands, and 
has prepared the way for, a more complete and comprehensive work 
than now exists, not, indeed, for the introduction of novel speculations or 
theories, but to unite what the spirit and providence of God have devel- 
oped in the wide range of discussion and argument of which an outline 
has been given. 

" Your committee will give an outline of what such a work ought to 
contain, and make suggestions as to its preparation. It should contain, 

" 1. A statement of the teaching of Scripture as to the principles and 
facts of the original ecclesiastical organization and government of the 
churches, free from modern additions and extensions, confirmed by au- 
thorities and concessions ; and also a tracing of the recognition of these 
facts and principles by history into the first and second centuries. These 
scriptural facts and principles are too often commingled with'subsequent 
ideas and practices; as, for instance, councils, mutual and ex parte. This 
scrii)tural portion should be wrought out with care, discrimination, and 
impartiality. 

" 2. An investigation of the scriptural philosophy of Congregationalism, 
so developed. By this is meant a view of its end, relations, adaptations, 
and place m the system which God is administering in this world, taken 
as a whole, and considered in the light of his "Word. Here difierent \iews 
have been taken. The fathers of modern Congregational development 
took the ground of a jure divino system of Congregationalism. Others 
in modern times have called all other systems organizations of Satan. 
From this, some recoil to the idea that the scriptural facts involve no 
enjoined system, but contrary wise ; that there is a providential room for 
diverse modes of organization, in a pliant indefiniteness as to outward 
organization. The question is, was not the divine original adoption of 
the Congregational, that is, of the anti-hierarchal, system, based on rea- 
sons common to all ages, and is it not essential to the full development of 
the kingdom of God, which is foretold ? If it is, then this adaptation and 
its reasons should be developed and set forth as a means of giving tone 
to the feehngs of the professors and defenders of the system, and of se- 
curing that final result. 

" 3. A statement of the modern development of Congregational princi- 
ples, including what is not taught by express command or example in 
the Bible, but what is introduced on the ground of the light of reason, 
viewed as a divine revelation; for the early fathers of the system agreed 
in the propriety and necessity of an appeal to this standard, as well as to 
scriptural principles, commands, and examples. Punchard and others 
state the case too strongly of an appeal to the Bible alone. Upham and 



458 CHURCH POLITY. 

others, especially the fathers, take the true ground of an ap^oeal to the 
light of nature, as the voice of God. 

" This statement should include two parts : 1. The local church, 
viev^ed individually, as to its materials, formation, powers, and organ- 
izations. 2. The relations of Congregational churches, taken in the 
aggregate, to each other on the principles of church fellowship. Here 
will be found to be the widest field for an appeal to the light of nature. 

" 4. A development of the system in action, that is, a description of 
actual Congregational usages and precedents as to the mode of organ- 
izing churches, receiving or dismissing members, electing and ordaining 
officers, administering discipline, calling and conducting councils. Of 
this kind are Cotton's Way of the Churches of iN'ew England; Mather's 
Eatio Disciplinse ; most of Upham's work by the same name ; the 
fourth part of Punchard's work; the third part of Crowell's; and of other 
works a part. 

" 5. A historical outline of the modern revival and development of the 
system, with a reference to the causes afiecting it during this progress, 
both in England and America, and the errors for a time held and at 
length eliminated. Designed also to expose the dangers "to be guarded 
against in its use, in the light of experience, and to give cautions against 
its perversions or corruptions, and suggestions as to what should be done 
to perfect its development and action." 

I attach very great importance to this point. The subject of councils 
in Massachusetts has been considered in a very able article, which is to 
appear in the July number of the " Boston Keview," by the Hon. Wood- 
bury Davis, a lawyer, and is entitled, " Congregational Polity, Usages, 
and Law." He introduces the decisions of civil courts, and endeavors 
to make out what he calls Congregational usage as an existing fact. 
But there are no principles stated by which Congregational usage, as an 
existing fact, can be judged of, and by which the question can be 
answered, " Is that usage right or wrong ? " " Ought that usage to be 
abolished or not ? " Existing usage may tend to evil, and there is need 
of principles to know whether it does tend to evil or not; and in Massa- 
chusetts, in particular, it is a matter of very great moment. Any one 
who knows anything in regard to the original introduction of councils, — 
of which the most satisfactory accoimt I know of is given in Palfrey's 
"History of Kew England," — knows that they were introduced under 
peculiar circumstances, and that there were then peculiar influences 
operating upon councils. The Constitution of the Civil State of Massa- 
chusetts was such, at that time, that none were voters but those who 
were members of the church. The formation of a church was then, of 
necessity, the introduction of so many voters into the civil State. 'No 
church could be formed that did not afiect the question of voting; and 
therefore it was ordered in the civil State, that certain regulations should 
be introduced with regard to councils in the formation of churches; and 
the whole development of Councils was aflected b}^ that relation to the 
civil State. It is incumbent upon us to be caj)able of judging with 



CHURCH POLITY. 459 

regard to this development, and therefore we need a calm historical 
analysis of the origin and progress of the system, and the causes that 
were operating at the time of its development, while it took the form in 
which it actually revealed itself, and we shall never understand anything 
of ISTew England Congregationalism as we ought until we do this. 

I would state, still further, that I have been called, in Massachusetts 
especially, to act on ex parte councils. One ex parte council occupied 
me for months, in laborious investigations. The council met and 
adjourned and a report was made out, and that rejDort was afterward 
accepted. The main object of that council was to correct certain modes 
of abusing Congregational councils, or abusing the interior structure of 
the Congregational church — of abusing the influence of ministers who 
had been upon a council subsequently to that council. I might enu- 
merate five or six modes which have been practically adopted in the 
churches of Massachusetts of perverting and abusing the system of 
Congregationalism; and I say deliberately, at this time, from my knowl- 
edge of it, that the danger in Massachusetts is, of tying up the churches 
and reducing them to bondage under the name of fellowship, — which is 
a sacred name, a holy name [Applause], — so that they shall be beneath 
a jDower indefinite, which Presbyterianism is not, and yet doing the very 
things which Presbyterianism does — doing them without its guards, 
doing them without its definiteness. 

This historical outline, therefore, of the modern revival and develop- 
ment of the system, with reference to the causes affecting it during its 
progress, and the errors for a time held, and at length eliminated, is of 
fundamental importance at this moment, and in this attempt to extend 
the Congregational system and augment its power, that we may have 
it free from local influences, free, if I may say so, from New Englandism, 
— for IsTew England, in its past history, you know, was a commingling 
of church and state, and it has not been until very lately that isTew 
England has worked itself clear, and we are bound to work Congrega- 
tionalism clear from all the corrupting influences that have come into it 
from this or any other source. 

The last point is a statement of the advantages of Congregationalism, 
in itself, and in comparison with other systems, and answers objections; 
and for the practical purpose of spreading Congregationalism, this is of 
very great moment. A mere naked statement of what Congregation- 
alism is, you may find in many works, but if we are intending, as a body, 
to carry out this movement to spread Congregationalism, we must put it 
in a form to spread. 

The manual reported to the General Association of Illinois is a carrying 
out in part of the points in this outline, and it was my purpose, according 
to the recommendation of the General Association, to prepare a largei 
work, upon my own responsibility, on this general plan. 

I would say now, in applying these statements, that I myself could 
not consistently vote for the report of Dr. Bacon, as though it were suf- 
ficient to accomplish all that for which I feel that such a work ought to 
be prepared. I feel that the manual of Dr. Bacon is a very able and 



460 CHURCH POLITY. 

valuable one, and that it does a given work well, but not all that is 
required at this time. If the powers of the committee shall be so con- 
strued as to include the right to introduce whatever in their judgment 
the present exigency demands, I shall cordially vote for the appointment 
of the committee, and for the reference of Dr. Bacon's manual to them. 

Eev. Dr. Patton, of Illinois. Ilr. Moderator, — The brethren at the 
West, as is well known, feel a special interest in this topic ; and the in- 
terest they feel in it is not, as I supjDOse, because they have any quarrel 
with New England, or any antagonism with Kew England, — nothing 
of that sort, — but because they wish to have the polity which prevails 
in 'New England more thoroughly known, and understood, and practiced 
at the West. I think that is the general feeling of the brethren at the 
West. We know the value of this polity. We love it, because, when 
we lived at the East, we lived under it. We have desired to take it with 
us in remo\ing out to the West, and we desire to have it presented to 
the Western mind as free as possible from all objections. JSTow, our 
difficulties are these. In the first place there are multitudes who come 
from the East to the West who do not understand their own polity, — 
and that is not strange when we find facts coming to our notice, in 
Connecticut and Massachusetts, such as these. When I was a lad, I 
used to go to Stonington sometimes to recreate. There is a Congrega- 
tional church in that place, but the people all supposed they had a 
Preshyterian church, and called it so. They talked about the Presbyte- 
rian minister, and I dare say they talk so there still. I had occasion, 
shortly after I was settled in Hartford, to exchange with a good brother 
in West Hartford. I went into the pulpit and took down the Bible, and 
saw this inscription upon it : " Presented to the West Presbyterian 
Church of Hartford," by so-and-so. Why, the brethren in Connecticut 
didn't know but what they were Presbyterians, a few years ago, and 
some of them haven't found out to the contrary yet, we have reason 
to fear. [Laughter and ap]3lause.] 

Kow, sir, when material of this kind floats out West, you can easily 
see why it does not always go into Congregational churches, and why it 
very naturally deposits itself in Presbyterian churches. We think it 
desirable, therefore, that there should emanate from this body some- 
thing that should be for the instruction of the East as well as of the 
West. It is not merely a boon which we desire for our own people, but 
we desire that it may go out and draw the attention of the brethren, min- 
isters, and laymen at the East, to the Congregational jDolity and its ad- 
vantages, in order that they may be prepared intelligently to adopt it 
when they remove to the West ; and of course still more do we need 
such a manual for the instruction of the churches at the West, composed 
of very heterogeneous materials, and increasingly so, because we stand 
in great favor at the West. Inquire of almost any denomination in the 
West, and they will tell you that, next to their own, they love the Con- 
gregational denomination, and that, if they were to make a change, — 
and some of them intimate that perhaps they will, — the change would 
be into Congregationalism. That is exceedingly common testimony. 



CHTJRCH POLITY. 461 

"Now, sir, many are coming to us from all quarters in the laity and the 
ministry, and they are ignorant of our usages, and, to some extent of 
our principles, especially of the great second principle enunciated by 
Dr. Bacon, that of the communion of churches. I have been battling, 
ever since I have been at the "West, this principle of introducing men as 
acting ministers of churches, who live on, year after year, without any 
ordination, as a violation of one of the fundamental principles of Con- 
gregationalism. It is pure Independency. The brethren in Chicago 
generally share these views, and they desire that some document shall 
go oiTt to instruct our brethren throughout the West as to the true 
doctrine of Congregationalism on this point. 

Prof. E. A. Lawkexce, d. d., of Connecticut. I think, Mr. Modera- 
tor, in view of the lucid exj^lanation, — I may say, exhibition, — which 
has been given us this morning of our polity, from the chairman of the 
committee, there are a good many who feel, as is suggested by my 
brother on the left, that we are likely to " save our Bacon,''^ and that we 
must have our Bacon upon the committee to help save it. [Laughter.] 

The principles which have been proclaimed, namely, — first, of a 
church distinct from Presbyterianism, from Episcopacy, from Roman- 
ism, is a fundamental principle ; the second principle, the conimunity of 
churches, is equally fundamental. The two distinguish between what is 
confounded by all the other theories. They give us the church and the 
churches ; they give us independency and fellowship ; they give us a 
ministry and they give us pastors ; and from these principles we can 
never depart and maintain our denominational integrity. We can never 
secede from them, any more than from Plymouth Rock, where we stood a 
day or two since. Our whole history is based on those principles ; our 
councils are based on them ; our experiences are identified with them. 
We can never blot out Bunker Hill. We can take down that monument, 
if you please, but we cannot erase Bunker Hill. We can never blot 
from our recent history the names of Gettysburg and Richmond, though 
those places themselves might be destroyed ; they are wrought into our 
language. So these principles, and the history they throw light upon, 
have become part of our existence as a denomination. I therefore wish 
to indorse the proposition that the old committee be placed upon this 
new one. 

Rev. Dr. Eldeidge, of Connecticut. In the interesting speech, Mr. 
Moderator, made last 'evening by Mr. Quint, our attention wa^ drawn, 
in terms of deliberate commendation, to an article contained in the last 
number of the " Independent," written by the chairman of the commit- 
tee to whom the documents on polity were referred. That article was 
spoken of, as I say, in terms of deliberate and strong commendation. 
Having great respect for the views of Mr. Quint, my attention was 
drawn to this article, and I found in it the following statement : — "It 
has mattered httle that the Consociationism of Connecticut has striven 
for long years to extinguish one of the two cardinal principles of 
Congregationalism — the absolute independence of the local church in 
matters pertaining to its internal affairs." 



462 • CHUKCH POLITY. 

I was entirely content to say nothing upon the report, most able and 
lucid, of Dr. Bacon, although he alluded to the Consociation system of 
Connecticut very briefly, yet respectfully, cautioning the Council to be 
on their guard against pushing it so as to override, in any way, the 
fundamental principles of Congregationalism ; and I do not rise now 
with any purpose of propagandism, but simply in an attitude of self- 
defense. The friends of that system are charged with the intention of 
uprooting one of the fundamental lorinciiDles of Congregationalism. I^Tow 
if there is any man in Connecticut who is exposed to that charge, I am that 
man. I have been working that system, in the same locality, for thirty- 
four years, and I am the oldest pastor, I suppose, in the State, who has 
been located there and on the same ground continuously. I have too 
much regard to my own comfort to be very easily provoked, and there- 
fore I do not avail myself of every oj^portunity to be indignant, when 
indignation might be justifiable. I entertain, also, very great respect 
for the chairman of the committee. He is one of that class of men who 
see very clearly objects that are not too large [Laughter], and who 
pursue, with great energy and perseverance, individual objects, not 
always taking into suflficient consideration the bearings and the relations 
of the object. I impute to him no intention of injury, and I rise now 
not to vindicate Consociationism, or myself as one of its representatives 
and friends in Connecticut, but there are gentlemen from the far West 
for whose good opinion I entertain a regard. 

A Member. Is this discussion in order ? 

The Moderator. Perhaps not, strictly. 

Rev. Mr. Gulliver, of Connecticut. I wish to say that I shall claim 
the privilege of reply, if personal attacks are to be made on me on this 
floor, and I don't know how long that will take. 

Eev. Dr. Eldridge. I am not going into any discussion. 

A Member. All these views and ideas can go before the large 
committee of twenty-five. 

Rev. Dr. Eddy, of Massachusetts. I hope we shall not choke down 
Dr. Eldridge ; he has not opened his mouth before. 

Rev. Dr. Eldridge. I am entirely at your disposal. It is true that 
I have not opened my mouth before, but I will close it now, if you say 
so. I was going to say this : that if those who work this system are en- 
gaged in overthrowing or uprooting one of the fundamental principles 
of Congregationahsm, they are engaged in it innocently and unconscious- 
ly. We are not desii"ous of being despots, and we do not mean to be 
slaves. 

Kow I will state, in a very few words, just how the thing is, that those 
who never have heard anything about Consociationism, except in terms 
of reproach, may get some ghmmering idea of what it is. The churches 
within a certain boundary, say. twenty in number, meet together and form 
a constitution developing the very principles of comity that are supposed 
to exist. They say, " There may be cases in churches where individ- 
uals shall be aggrieved; there occur instances where churches will not 
permit a pastor to be settled, and there may be difliculties occurring 



CHURCH POLITY. 463 

among the churches themselves. Kow, we agree, whenever any such 
question shall arise — whenever an individual or a church shall be 
aggrieved, whenever a pastor is to be settled or dismissed, whenever 
anything of that kind is to be done, — we agree to invest this Council 
with power to act, and we will consider it invested with all that authority 
which properly belongs to a council. There may be, in some of these 
constitutions, verbal expressions that are unadvised; but the practical 
working of the system is, that we do by this organization, say, what 
councils do otherwheres. 

ISTow, as to the advantage of it. It is known; it is permanent; it is 
responsible. We have a printed constitution, which has been accepted 
by every church, who feel bound to abide by it until it is changed. We 
keep a record of our proceedings, and every precedent is recorded; and 
if any church is disposed in any way to abuse other churches, that abuse 
is recorded, and operates as a principle to be applied to them in return. 
The effect of our action is under our own eyes; we see it, and are 
responsible to the community for it. We have worked that system for 
thirty-four years in my locality. I have attended more than two 
hundred meetings of the organization, and I have never seen oppression 
or abuse. There have been many mistakes, doubtless, as there will be; 
but I can confidently point to that portion of the state as comparing 
favorably with any other community in the purity of its ministers, the 
intelligence, piety, and liberality (according to their means and opportuni- 
ties), of its churches, and their freedom from spiritual and doctrinal errors. 

Rev. Mr. Gulliyer, of Connecticut. I claim the privilege of reply- 
ing. 

' Rev. Mr. Bliss, of Tennessee. I move that the rules be suspended 
for five minutes, to hear Mr. Gulliver. Carried. 

Rev. Mr. Gulliver. I don't propose to make any reply to the 
remarks of the preceding speaker, for I don't think the matter of im- 
portance enough, although I entertain the very highest possible respect 
for Dr. Eldridge, as he very well knows. I take the floor to thank you 
for giving me the opportunity to reply, and yield it to Prof Park, that 
he may submit an amendment to the amendment which I have proposed, 
which will greatly facilitate the business before us. [Applause.] 

Rev. Prof Park, of Massachusetts. I wish to propose, as an amend- 
ment to the amendment, the following resolution : — 

Besolved^ That this Councdl recognizes as distinctive of the Congrega- 
tional polity — 

Pirst, The principle that the local or Congregational church derives 
its power and authority directly from Christ, and is not subjected to any 
ecclesiastical government exterior or superior to itself 

Second, That every local or Congregational church is bound to observe 
the duties of mutual respect and charity which are included in the com- 
munion of churches one with another; and that every church which 
refuses to give an account of its proceedings, when kindly and orderly 
desired to do so by neighboring churches, violates the law of Christ. 



464 RAISING THE FUNDS. 

Third, That the ministry of the gospel by members of the churches 
who have been duly called and set apart to that work implies in itself no 
power of government, and that ministers of the gospel not elected to 
office in any church are not a hierarchy, nor are they invested with any 
official power in or over the churches. 

I would simply remark, that this is an enlargement of the first reso- 
lution which was proposed in the report. 

The question was put, and the amendment carried unani- 
mously. The report was then adopted, as amended. 

Rev. Mr. Langworthy, in behalf of the Nominating Commit- 
tee, submitted the following names to constitute the 

COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AT THE WEST. 

Rev. Edwards A. Park, d. d., of Massachusetts, Rev. John P. Gulli- 
ver, of Connecticut, Rev. William De Loss Love, of Wisconsin. 

RAISING THE EUKDS. 

Deacon Samuel Holmes, of New York, asked and obtained 
leave to offer at this time, from the Committee on Ways and 
Means, the following report and resolutions : — 

The committee to whom was referred the question, " By what means 
to raise $750,000 for the Evangelization of the West and South ? " beg 
leave to suggest, that the sum named, as it can not be reckoned large, 
when compared with the grandeur of the object and of the opportunity 
which God in his providence has set before us, so neither is to be regarded 
as extravagant in comparison with the ability which divine munificence 
has bestowed upon us, the Congregational churches of America. 

Were we standing higher upon the mount of vision and of consecration, 
we should be startled not at the greatness but at the littleness of our 
plans for answering the appeal made to us at this signal moment in the 
history of our nation. 

The one thing necessary in order that the amount named, and even 
more, may be realized the ensuing year, and from year to year here- 
after, is that the benevolent spirit of our Master be more fully present 
in the churches, and that we be prompted to exercise broader and clearer 
views of the work to be done. 

It will be understood that the present is not a proposition to raise for 
the three societies a special fund of $750,000 over and above their ordi- 
nary receipts. It does propose to double the annual revenue of the 
American Home Missionary Society and that of the American Mis- 
sionary Association, while for church building it aims to do, through the 



RAISING THE FUNDS. 465 

American Congregational Union, a special service, plainly demanded 
now, and to a greater or less degree likely to be demanded for years to 
come. 

We esteem it a fortunate circumstance, tha t the new campaign for 
Christ's cause finds our denomination provided with the three distinct 
and harmonious agencies that correspond to the three departments of 
labor into which the direct work of evangelization divides itself — an 
agency to assist in planting and sustaining churches ; an agency to secure 
the building of houses of worship ; and an agency to care for the comfort, 
education, and religious well-being of the lately enslaved blacks. 

We desire to take no labor off from these societies, but rather to lay 
more upon them, and encom-age them to put more upon the churches in 
Christ's name. 

In accordance with these views, the committee recommend to the 
Council the passage of the following resolutions : — 

1. Besolved, That each of the several benevolent societies named in the 
report of the committee on the Evangelization of the West and South 
be desired and enjoined to adopt the most efficient means in its power to 
secure the sum proposed, as its quota of the $750,000. 

2. Resolved, That, regarding this as the most significant of all the 
practical measures that have occupied the attention of the Council, we 
do hereby pledge ourselves to our Fatlier, our Saviour, and to each other, 
to co-operate with the secretaries and agents of the societies referred to 
in any effort they may wisely and zealously adopt. 

3. Resolved, That the Council recommend to the American Congrega- 
tional Union, without arresting or delaying the special efforts now in 
progress or ready to be put forth in behalf of the churches needing aid 
for the erection of houses of worship, to call for a simultaneous collection 
on the Sabbath preceding Forefathers' Day, December 17th, when every 
Congregational church, large or small, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
shall contribute what it can towards the $200,000 for church-building. 
Let the good work be finished in a day, and give the proper pimctu.'ition 
to this memorable meeting. 

4. Resolved, That an appeal be issued from the Council, and placed, so 
far as may be, in the hands of every member of every Congregational 
church in the country — urging the duty and privilege of self-denying 
benevolence, with immediate reference to the object contemplated in this 
paper. 

5. Resolved, That we undertake this work, not in our own strength 
nor for our own glory, but with humble dependence upon Him whose 
are the silver and the gold and the hearts of men; and in humble imita- 
tion of Him who said, " It is more blessed to give than to receive," — to 
Him be glory by the church throughout all ages. 

In behalf of the committee, 

Samtjel Holmes, Chairman. 

80 



466 CONSOCIATIONISM. 

Eev. Mr. Allen, of Massachusetts. We are prepared to adopt those 

resolutions without debate. 

Rev. Dr. Holbrook, of New York. I ask that the question be taken 
by a rising vote. 

Dea. Samuel Holmes, of New York. I move that the question be 
taken by a rising vote, to be followed by a prayer consecrating our vote, 
and that we then at once proceed to our usual prayer-meeting. 

Eev. Mr. Webb, of Massachusetts. Shall we not incorporate this 
idea, — that we not only pledge ourselves to our Father, and our Saviour 
who has redeemed us, but to each other, that we will carry out to the 
letter this recommendation in all the churches throughout the land ? I 
make that motion. 

The motion was agreed to. 

The question being taken upon the resolutions, they were 
adopted nem. con. by a rising vote ; and prayer was offered by 
Eev. Mavel Bascom, of Illinois. 

DEYOTIONAL EXERCISES. 

The Council then proceeded to the usual devotional exercises, 
a hymn being sung, prayer being offered by Eev. Dr. Beecher, 
of Illinois, Eev. George Allen, of Massachusetts, and others, and 
remarks being made by Eev. J. C. Holbrook, and others. 

CONSOCIATIONISM. 

The Council having resumed the consideration of the report 
upon Church Polity, 

Eev. Dr. Field, of Connecticut, moved that at least one of 
the members of the committee recommended should be a pastor 
of a consociated church. 

Eev. Mr. Gulliver, of Connecticut. I object very much to that 
recognition of schools among us. We have already recognized our six 
theological seminaries in the resolutions ; and a distinguished lawyer 
upon this floor has said that that fact would convince any court of law 
in the country that every possible interest was represented. If we begin 
by recognizing Consociationists, we must go on and recognize Hopkins- 
ians, and Old School and New School theologians. I should deprecate 
it very much, as distinguishing me from the rest of my brethren. There 
is no disposition to crush down members who belong to the consociated 
churches. There will be every disposition to have them represented. I 
hope there will be no intimation that there is a disposition to crush them, 
for it does not exist. 



REPORT ON WORSHIP. 467 



EEPOKT OlS" WORSHIP. 



On motion of Rev. A. P. Marvin, of Massachusetts, the order 
of business was suspended to enable him to offer a report. 

Eev. A. P. Marvin, from the committee on Worship, read 
the following report, which was accepted and adopted : 

The committee to whom the order on the subject of Worship was re- 
ferred, having given it what attention was possible in the short time 
since the matter was referred to them, respectfully submit the following 
report : — 

To avoid all misapprehension, the committee would begin by saying, 
that the subject before us is worship; not forms of worship, nor the 
order of service in the house of the Lord, but simply worship. It is quite 
true that the dividing Une between our denomination and some other 
bodies of Christians is not liturgical. Congregationalists might have a 
prescribed order of service, with written forms of prayer, without in- 
fringing any of their peculiar principles ; but that subject is not now be- 
fore us ; and we desire to say, so distinctly as not to be misunderstood, 
that we do not wish to raise any agitation in regard to it within this body. 
Our mode of worship is well established, and is satisfactory to the great 
mass of our fellow- worshipers. 

The point to which we call especial attention, and would impress with 
emphatic earnestness, is this, that in our devotions, both public and pri- 
vate, we should bring in much more of the element of worship. Prayer, 
as generally defined, consists of several parts, as invocation, confession of 
sin, petition, thanksgiving, and praise. Any one, however, who gives at- 
tention to the custom in our public and private devotions, will be struck 
with the fact that the larger part of our prayers is taken up with peti- 
tions ; confession of sin comes next in frequency and prominence ; thanks- 
giving is not entirely forgotten ; but praise, worship, adoration, are often 
entirely omitted. In saying this, we do not mean to intimate that we, as 
a denomination, in comparison with other Christians, are deficient in 
reverence ; but that there is a general want of the element of worshi2) 
which we share in common with others. A skeptical philosopher and 
statesman in a former generation ridiculed the practice of worship as if it 
consisted in flattering the Almighty ; and we have heard Christian min- 
isters inquire, in the same strain, why we should tell God in our prayers 
how old he is, and how great. This error comes from apparent unfamil- 
iarity with the practice of ancient saints, as seen in the Psalms ; and also 
from profound ignorance of the design and effect of worship. The Psalms 
of David, of Asaph, and the other sacred poets, are re^Dlete with the spirit 
of worship. 

In commencing their service, they were accustomed to say, " O come 
let us worship ; let us bow down before the Lord our Maker !"..." Let 
us enter his courts with thanksgiving, and his gates with praise ! " They 
thought of the eternity, the self-existence, the power, the truthfulcess, the 



468 CONSOCIATIONISM. 

justice, the mercy, and the holiness of God, nntil their hearts were full, 
and then their feelings burst forth in the highest strains of adoration and 
praise. 

Let it always be borne in mind that no one can worship God unless 
his soul is in love with infinite excellence ; and that in proportion as his love 
for perfection increases, will be his desire to render unto God the worship 
which is due. And in the act of worship the soul is enlarged and puri- 
fied. No exercise of the human heart is so elevating and improving as 
that of meditating, with adoring feelings, upon the character of the 
ever-blessed God. As we study him in his works, and especially in his 
words, as revealed in his perfect laws, we are " changed into the same 
image from glory to glory." 

We do therefore earnestly call upon all with whom the proceedings of 
this Council will have weight, to make the element of worship more 
prominent in their devotions, both in public and private religious services. 
To the objection that the endeavor to effect this end would prolong devo- 
tional exercises to an undue length, we would reply, that prayers are 
sometimes tedious because they have not the variety which meets all the 
wants of the devout soul, and are made up of " vain repetitions " in the 
form of petition for blessings. It is believed that our devotional ser- 
vices, both in the house of God, in social meetings, and in the family, 
would be made far more interesting by being more complete, while by 
the same means they would be rendered more acceptable to the Hearer of 
prayer. Those who render earnest and sincere thanks for divine favors, 
will thus enforce their prayers for new mercies in the presence of the 
prayer-answering God ; and those who, by high and holy expressions of 
adoration, draw near to the great white throne, will be thereby fitted to 
make a good use of all the blessings which God may be pleased to 
bestow upon them. Our petitions will be more pleasing to our heavenly 
Pather when we worship him in the " beauty of holiness." 

A. P. Matiyin^, 
N. H. Eggleston^, 
J. L. Jenkins. 



CONSOCIATIONISM. 

The consideration of the report on Church Polity was re- 
sumed. 

Eev. Dr. Eldridge, of Connecticut. I hope that the amendment 
proposed by Dr. Eield will not be accepted. I have no disposition at all 
to intrude consociationism upon this Council. I wish to leave the com- 
mittee entirely untrammeled. The question seemed rather to be drawn 
before the Council by the reference to that document by Mr. Quint. 
We are entirely satisfied with the system. We are not afraid of its 
being overturned, and have no disposition to propagate it against any- 
body's wishes. 



CONSOCIATIONISM. 469 

Eev. Mr. Gulliver, of Connecticut. I would suggest that the Pro- 
fessor from East Windsor will necessarily be from a consociated church. 

The motion of Dr. Field was laid upon the table. 

Eev. Mr. Alleist, of Massachusetts. 'No one perhaps more respects 
the gentlemen spoken of to he classified in the committee, as professors, 
than myself. I have not only a very respectful but a very affectionate 
regard for them, so far as I personally know them. But I object to a 
class of men being taken and placed upon this committee as a class; 
and particularly upon the ground that has been verified by the opinion 
of an unknown but distinguished lawyer, who may well understand the 
business of his own profession, but certainly does not so well understand 
ours. 

And, sir, I will here say, that the greatest diflSculty that has arisen 
since any of us were born, in regard to the subject of Congregationalism, 
has been made by perhaps the most distinguished and influential pro- 
fessor of theology in New England, if not in the country; and that that 
individual did more, in the course of thirty years, to uncongregationalise 
and Presbyterianise Congregationalism, than any other man, or all other 
men in New England; and that from his position as professor of the- 
ology in an institution of high character, and from his own celebrity, 
because of his influence, there are now a multitude of churches in this 
country that are Presbyterian, notwithstanding he was a professor 
of theology in the earliest and most distinguished theological institution 
of this land. I would add that there are men in this body, and they are 
numerous, that understand that subject better than theological professors, 
a great deal, and who have studied it with great care and know its bear- 
ings, better far. 

The amendment by Mr. Gulliver was then adopted. 

Eev. Dr. Eddy, of Massachusetts, desired that the mode of 
appointing the committee should be amended. 

On motion of Mr. Gulliver, the adoption of the amendment 
was reconsidered in order to meet Dr. Eddy's views. 

Eev. Dr. Eddy, of Massachusetts, moved that the committee 
be appointed by the Moderators of the Council (the Moderator 
and First Assistant Moderator, the Second Assistant Moderator 
being absent.) 

The motion was agreed to. 

The amendment of Eev. Mr. Gulliver was adopted, and the 
report as amended was adopted. 

COLLEGIATE AND MINISTEEIAL EDUCATION. 
Rev. Seth Sweetser, d. d., of Massachusetts, chairman of the 



470 COLLEGIATE AND MINISTERIAL EDUCATIOIf. 

committee to whom was referred the paper presented by the 
preliminary Committee on Collegiate and Ministerial Education, 
read the following report : — 

The Committee on Collegiate and Ministerial !]^ducation respectfully 
recommend that the resolution submitted to them in reference to Col- 
legiate and Theological Institutions at the West be referred to a special 
committee. 

They also recommend the adoption of the comprehensive, clear, and 
well-arranged report on the education of young men for the ministry 
presented to this Council by the committee appointed at the prelimi- 
nary meeting to consider that subject. 

And in order that some of its more weighty suggestions may be dis- 
tinctly impressed, and be carried out in the practical application they 
deserve, the committee" beg leave to submit to the Council for their 
adoption the following statements : 

1. As it is an admitted fact that in the providence of God the high 
religious character, the Christian energy, the sound and intelligent 
patriotism, and the wide and salutary influence of New England in the 
past have depended to a large extent upon the existence and continuous 
work of an educated and devoted ministry, so it must be admitted, that 
in the future within New England the perpetuation and enlargement of 
such character and influence, and beyond New England the training of 
communities to a similar character and influence, depend, and will ever 
depend, upon the existence and continuous work of a ministry in like 
manner devotedly pious, and generously educated. 

2. Inasmuch as the present emergency is pressing, and the condition 
of the "West and South imperatively demands immediate attention, it is 
eminently desirable that our theological seminaries should provide for 
the education of earnest-minded and vigorous young men, whose hearts 
are in the Lord's work, by arranging a course of instruction not requiring 
a previous collegiate training, in order that, with as little delay as prac- 
ticable, they may engage in preaching the gospel to the many thousands 
who wait for it in our land. 

3. As the duty of consecration to the spreading of Christ's kingdom 
is not laid exclusively upon those who minister the word, and as it is not 
salutary nor right that those who go into the warfare equip themselves 
at their own charges, the obligation should be recognized by all members 
of the Church of our Redeemer, to help young men in their education 
for the ministry, by assistance rendered directly to individuals, by sup- 
plying ample funds to education societies, and by generously endowing 
scholarships in colleges and theological seminaries. 

4. Notwithstanding the often presented discouraging aspect of the 
Christian ministry, arising from an alleged insecurity and insufficiency of 
pecuniary support, young men of the requisite ability and good disposition 
should be encouraged to devote themselves to preaching the gospel, in 
the cheerful exercise of a simple faith in the promise of our Lord Jesus 



COLLEGIATE AND MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 471 

Christ to Ms messengers, " Lo, I am with you always ! " trusting with 
all good assurance and hope in the Word of the Lord, that all necessary 
things shall be added unto them. 

By vote of the committee, 

S. SwEETSER, Chairman. 
J"une 23, 1865. 

Eev. Dr. Sweetser proceeded to say : I was instructed by the com- 
mittee to explain why so brief a report upon so great a topic, is pre- 
sented. It is done, first, because some of the special points brought to 
view in the report submitted to the committee have already been pre- 
sented in other reports, and acted upon ; and, secondly, that by con- 
centrating attention upon a few special points of vast importance, 
those points may be impressed more vividly upon the minds of this 
Council. 

In the opinion of the committee, this is one of the fundamental matters 
for the consideration of the council. We have passed, with great una- 
nimity, and with expressions of gratitude to God, votes recommending the 
raising of large sums of money to meet the exigencies of our nation at the 
present time. We have voted to advise the churches to pay $300,000 into 
the treasury of the Home Missionary Society, and $250,000 to aid those 
who shall go to preach to and instruct the freedmen, and $200,000 more to 
build churches. But where are the men who are to receive this sum in 
doing the service of the church. We were told yesterday that we needed 
a thousand men to-day, trained, and disciplined, and drilled, for what 
God is calling upon this church to do. The report of your commit- 
tee says that there are 800 more churches than there are men. Where 
are these men to come from, and how are they to be furnished? 

Are we to expect our young men to prepare themselves for the work of 
the Lord at their own charges ? I believe the whole history of our church 
shows that those who have entered into the sacred office have come in a 
very small degree from families well supplied with wealth. Experience 
seems to demonstrate that it has never been the will of God that young 
men nursed in luxury and abundance, should be the pioneer men in doing 
God's work. We have now, and we always have had as pioneers, men in 
moderate circumstances and even in hard necessity, who have been kept 
from self-indulgence, and have grown up under the teachings of necessity 
to a manhood that was equal to the demand when they came into the ser- 
vice. If Ave were to-day to exclude from our ministry the men that have 
been helped to come in, and if we were to exclude from our missionary 
labors the men that have had help from the churches, we should erase 
from our record the best, the ablest, the most devoted and most energetic 
men that have been in the service of the Lord for the last century. 

The allotted time having expired, on motion Dr. Sweetser 
was invited to proceed. 



472 COLLEGIATE AND MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

I do not ask this for myself ; but it seems to me that it is a subject that 
ought to be more fully considered. Unless there is something done 
to meet the necessity of bringing men forward, what we have already 
done, in advising the raising of funds to carry on the work, will be in 
vain. 

The beginning of the struggle is in the preparatory course. I submit 
to this Council whether it is good economy, to say nothing more, to leave 
our young men to struggle against poverty, and against debt, while they 
are preparing themselves to preach the gosjoel ; to waste their strength 
and their time in furnishing themselves with the means of hving, when 
they ought to be devoting all their energy of mind and body to the great 
work of preparation. 

When Kapoleon wanted to reinforce the armies of France, and make 
them sui^erior to any other force that could be brought against them, he 
laid the whole kingdom under a system of education, holding out induce- 
ments to yoimg men of energy and ability to go into the army, by the 
payment of all their expenses of education; and he was a wise man in all 
his proceedings in that direction. 

Our churches need to see to it that their own young men who are fit to 
go to this work, shall not be left to hesitate because they can not see their 
way clear through this process of education. I take it, that it is the 
opinion of this body that the ministry, as a general thing, must be edu- 
cated according to the old standard; that that is to be the rule, and that 
the partial course is the exception. If that is so, we must make a strong 
effort to provide the means to keep our young men in our own schoola 
and in our own seminaries, and send them into the work under Congrega 
tional influence. Let us do it in a manly. Christian spirit, coming up to 
the demand, under the full conviction of the greatness of the ne(jessity. 
Let every pastor undertake it in his own church, that means shall be set in 
operation, at once, to bring this great question before our young men in 
the colleges and seminaries, that they may not withhold themselves when 
God is calling for such multitudes to go and enter the field which in his 
providence he has opened. 

I want to say a word more — I am aware your time is precious — in re- 
gard to the principle of going into the ministry, which is embraced in that 
last statement. We have heard over and over again, that there are great 
discouragements to young men, because their salaries are so stinted, and 
their means of supi^ort are so uncertain. I wish it were in the heart of this 
Council to put that obstacle for ever out of sight, and that we might ask 
our young men to go into the ministry from a higher motive; that they 
should understand that the question is not whether they shall have a 
large salary, and a conspicuous position, and an honorable place. I 
submit, sir, if every place where a man can serve Christ is not an honor- 
able place. And I submit whether the promise of Christ to be with us 
always even unto the end of the world, is not sufiScient security for any 
young man, if he is called of God to go into his service. As I have heard 
again and again these appeals made, I have almost wished that I could 



COLLEGIATE AND MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 473 

be a young man, — tliat I could again to-day, as a young man, buckle on 
the armor and go into this warfare. I would not ask any man to insure 
me a support. I do not believe there is the slightest danger of any faith- 
ful servant of Jesus Christ suffering want, so long as he is faithful to the 
word which he is called to proclaim. [Applause.] I do not believe the 
history of our churches shows an instance in which a man, who, in 
the simpUcity of his heart, with an earnest faith, and with fidelity, did 
the work that God gave him to do, has been left to suffer.; and all coming 
time will not show an instance. Our young men ought to be delivered 
from this slavery to the money question. 

I do not mean to exonerate the churches. It has been settled, by high 
authority, that the servant is worthy of his hire. We do not want to un- 
settle that principle ; but that is another question to be pressed in another 
quarter. What I desire to say here to our young men is, if Christ calls, 
do not you hesitate. The note of some of our merchant princes is re- 
liable ; but I submit that the promise of Christ, " I am with you al- 
ways," is a better pledge. I would go into the work with no other 
promise, if, in the promise of God that was the only promise I could get. 
I want our young men to feel that that is the way to settle the question, 
and to come to the work of the Lord with the feeling that we are not to 
be paid for it. We are not paid. I never thought that I was paid for my 
services. I should be ashamed of myself if I should hesitate for one 
moment to do the work God calls upon me to do, because in a commercial 
point of view, and according to the standard by which men of the world 
are paid, I am not paid. I do not ask my people to pay me. I want 
them to give me a support. There is a promise for us all, " Trust in the 
Lord and do good ; so shalt thou dwell in the land. Yerily thou shalt be 
fed." Brethren, bread and water are sure. " The earth is the Lord's 
and the fullness thereof." God has messengers, and God has servants, 
and he will take out of his own abundance, and will feed any man that in 
his work is in necessity. I hope that a voice will go out from this Coun- 
cil to all our colleges, and all our seminaries, to set aside the question of 
place and salaries and honor, and to act upon the question, " Does the 
Lord call me ? " And let him who hears the voice of the Lord call- 
ing him, in aU joyfulness and hope say, "Here, Lord, am I, — send 
me." 

SYSTEMATIZING BENEVOLENCE. 

On motion of Rev. Mr. Gushing, the orders of the day were 
suspended to enable him, at the request of Dr. Stearns, to 
report certain verbal alterations to be made in the report of 
the committee on Systematizing Benevolence. Rev. Mr. Gush- 
ing then read the proposed changes. 

Eev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut. It is not in the power of this body 
to alter a report which has been submitted to it and subscribed by a 



474 MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

committee, any more than to alter a note of hand, unless they adopt it 
as their own. 

Bev. Dr. Palmer, of Kew York. I think that view is correct ; but I 
have no doubt the committee will assent to its modification. I move 
that it be recommitted. 

The motion was agreed to. 

After consideration by the committee, Eev. Dr. Palmer, in 
their behalf, reported that the committee preferred the state- 
ment as it stood, but consented to the alteration. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio, 

The name of the " American Congregational Association," 
which had been inadvertently omitted, was added. 

The report as amended was then adopted.^ 

APPEAL TO THE CHURCHES. 

Eev. Dr. Beecher, of Illinois, moved that an appeal be issued 
by this Council, and placed, so far as possible, in the hands of 
every church member in the country ; and that a special com- 
mittee be appointed to prepare and issue this appeal. 

This motion was agreed to. 

MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

The Council resumed the consideration of Rev. Dr. Sweetser'^ 
report on Collegiate and Ministerial Education. 

Kev. Dr. Leavitt, of New York. I think that this report touches 
the marrow of the case in regard to the future progress of Congrega- 
tionalism. We are told that we want eight hundred ministers now, with 
our present extension; and we are told that we must exhort young men 
to disregard the question of support, and trust to Providence. That is 
very good doctrine. I remember seeing a picture in the window of a 
shoemaker's shop, of a customer trying on a boot ; and while he is groan- 
ing with pain the shoemaker very politely and earnestly assures him that 
it is not possible for that boot to hurt his feet. But the man who had 
the boot on knew where it pinched; and I think there are a good many 
ministers who know where the shoe pinches. 

I do not think the report of the committee has touched the core of 
the difficulty after all, that ministers suffer for the want of sufficient sup- 
port. There is a keener sufiering which educated and generous men are 

1 As on pp. 410-412. 



MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 475 

capable of feeling, and which drives men away from the ministry. If 
you want to increase the number of ministers, you must call off your 
dogs from them. John ISTewton, after he had graduated in a slave-ship, 
felt the necessity laid upon him of going into the ministry, and took 
orders in the Established Church of England, although his sympathies 
were all with the Congregationalists ; and he says in a letter which is in 
print, that he did it for the sake of enjoying freedom. I have known valu- 
able and earnest ministers to go into other denominations, — Methodists, 
Baptists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians, — for the sake of enjoying 
freedom ; — freedom to worship God, and freedom to preach his gospel 
and administer his ordinances in the way they thought conformable to 
the will of Christ. We must enlarge our charity and treat ministers as 
they deserve. We must respect them as ministers; and not, when any 
one steps over his line, hunt him down as with hounds. 



REGARDING FINAL ADJOURNMENT. 

Eev. Mr. Quint, in behalf of the Business Committee, desired the Con- 
vention to decide whether they would adjourn to-day, or on -some day 
next week. If the Convention considered it necessary to adjourn to-day, 
the remaining jDapers might be read, and the business concluded, by 
extending the session to half-past two o'clock, unless the time should be 
occupied by debate. 

Rev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio, moved that the business be fin- 
ished by half-past two o'clock, the session being extended until 
that time, and that then the Council adjourn without day. 

The motion was agreed to. 



MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

The Council resumed the consideration of Dr. Sweetser's 
report. 

Eev. Prof. EiSK, of Illinois. I dislike to take a moment of the time 
of the Council at this late day; but it is the first time I have opened my 
mouth here. I am delighted with the report, as able as it is brief; and I am 
also greatly pleased with the remarks of the chairman of the committee. 
I wish now to comment upon one or two points which have been brought 
up in that admirable report. 

First, let me say in regard to the short course, I am a convert to the 
opinion expressed in the report. When I was ajDpointed Professor of 
Rhetoric in the Theological Seminary at Chicago, eight years ago, I 
hesitated for nearly a year; and one great reason was because of the 
special course which was marked out for certain young men who had 



476 MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

not had a collegiate education. I beg to say that my views have under- 
gone an entire change in this respect; and that some of our ablest and 
best young men, — yes, some young men on this floor to-day that you 
only know to honor and to love — are men who have been through the 
three years' special course in the Theological Seminary at Chicago. I 
shall not trespass upon the proprieties of the occasion if I mention a 
young man upon this floor now, who came, a carpenter, from Iowa, sent 
to us by "brother Guernsey, and went through our course. When offered 
$1500 to stay in Chicago, he said, " I came from Iowa, and I go back to 
Iowa to labor there among those brethren; " and he went back with a 
salary of $400, and was sent by the churches there to represent them 
before you. Such cases are not rare with us. 

If you take the railroad at Chicago and pass through those magniflcent 
empires opened to Christian civilization, and see what a moral waste lies 
around us, and what need there is of Christian missionaries to go on the 
front tide of emigration, swelling on over rock and mountain; if you 
look South and get some apprehension of the great needs there; you will 
see how much we need men. 'No tongue can tell, no pen can describe 
it properly. We have sent out forty men from our seminary in five 
years. If we had had five hundred, we could have sent them out. One 
missionary agent said to me, " I will take all you have got for one State." 
And we have seven States centering upon us and turning to us. 

Much as we need men, we need, more than all, the men who have the 
spirit of Christ, and are willing to go where they are sent. I have 
received sixty letters within the last two months from people at the 
East. One man says, " I have married into a very intelligent family, and 
I have a very delicate wife, and I must have a refined circle into which 
to introduce her." Another says, " I have a poor constitution, and I 
fear the fever and ague." Another wants to be upon a railroad. I always 
send back to these men, kindly, " We have room enough, but we have 
not room for you. Much as we want men, what we want is men 
who will go anywhere, do anything, sleep in an upper chamber, or on 
the ground like our brave men who went South to defend the country; 
and we want no man west of the Hudson Eiver, who is not willing to go 
anywhere that he can, and to live as his Master did, who did not seek for 
places where there was no fever and ague. We take all the men you 
can send us of that kind." We want to raise up such men. We want 
such men as the brother who came out there, and who said to me, " I 
have sold my homestead to pay the funeral expenses of my wife; but I 
bless God for putting me into the ministry." If we can get such men, 
we shall have men enough to do the work. [At this point the allotted 
time expired.] 

Eev. Mr. Gaylord, of ISTew Hampshire. I find nowhere in the report 
beyond a brief passing allusion to the consecration by parents of their 
children to the ministry. I move to add, on the fifteenth page of the 
preliminary report, near the end of the thirteenth line, the words, " and 
a deeper and more general consecration, on the part of Christian 
parents, of their children to the work of the gospel ministry." I believe 



AMERICAN PROTESTANT ASSEMBLY. 47T 

this is one of the most important things in connection with this whole 
subject. When Christian parents realize the duty of consecrating their 
children specially to the ministry, we shall have attained one of the 
conditions of this important work. 

A memloer inquired whether the report could be amended. 

Kev. Mr. Gayeord, of Nebraska. The report of Dr. Sweetser, as 
I understand, recommends the adoption of this preliminary report, con- 
sequently I understand it to be competent for the Council now to amend 
the report of the preliminary committee. , 

The amendment was agreed to. 

The report was then adopted. 

Eev. Dr. Wolcott, on behalf of the Business Committee, 
reported the following resolution, submitted by Rev. J. A. 
Thome, of Cleveland, Ohio : — 

Besolved, That for the supply and proper training of a ministry ade- 
quate to the wants of the West and the South, and for the spiritual prep- 
aration of the Lord's people East and North to respond suitably in 
money, measures, and men, to the calls of Providence to enter and occupy 
the land which late events have opened to our faith and polity and evan- 
gelical enterprise, and to plant churches among, and furnish all requisite 
means of grace to, the freed people and the inhabitants generally of the 
South, Bevivals of Religion in our colleges and theological seminaries, 
and throughout our churches. Sabbath schools and families, leading to 
the renewed consecration of the wealth and the youth of our Zion to the 
Redeemer, are now the pre-eminent necessity : 

And that this Council does conjure the pastors and churches of our or- 
der, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, to employ promptly, and in faith, 
the measures they may deem most efiicient, under God, in iDromoting a 
general and genuine refreshing from on high. 

And would God this work of grace might begin at this Jerusalem. 

The resolution was adopted. 



AMERICAN PROTESTANT ASSEMBLY. 

Rev. Dr. Taylor, of Connecticut, on behalf of the Commit- 
tee on the American Protestant Assembly, read the following 
report : 

The papers brought before this body in reference to a Protestant As- 
sembly, and referred to a special committee, emanated from two sources 
having the same general object in view. The Young Men's Christian 
Association which recently held a convention in the city of Philadel- 



478 AMERICAN PROTESTANT ASSEMBLY. 

phia, regarding the signs of the times as indicating greater harmony 
among brethren, recommended that measures be taken for securing a 
concert of action on the part of all Protestant denominations, to resist 
the encroachments of infidelity, in its varied phases of bold opposition to 
the gospel ; as well as to promote harmony and love among those who 
belong to the household of faith. The Greneral Assembly of the Presby- 
terian Church, which held its late session in the city of Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania, had a more definite form given to the subject in the following 
resolutions, which were presented for its consideration : — 

Besolved, That the wide-spread influence of infidelity, in its varied 
l)hases of bold atheism and rationalistic philosophy, which is now putting 
forth redoubled energies for its dissemination throughout every section of 
our land, calls for the prompt and united action of evangelical Chris- 
tians, in a clear, honest, and uncompromising enunciation of the great 
cardinal doctrines of grace, and a bold defense of the truth as it is in 
Jesus. 

Resolved, That in the providence of God we believe that a solemn re- 
sponsibility is now laid upon the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in 
this country to manifest her loyalty to the Great King, by maintaining 
inviolate and steadfast, both by the enunciation of the pulpit and the 
issues of the press, the great principles of the gospel, which are designed 
to elevate the cross, establish the kingdom of Christ, and ultimately over- 
throw the whole system of error. 

Besolved, That the fearful growth of the Papacy, both as an ecclesiasti- 
cal and civil power in this land, is Avell calculated to awaken the fears and 
arouse the mightiest energies of the entire Protestant community, and 
calls imperiously for the adoption of measures at once timely and ade- 
quate to the emergency, so that we may, under the divine blessing, be 
enabled to counteract the secret and malign infiuence of the man of sin, 
and present an unbroken front of the army of truth against this system 
of corruption which is hourly girding itself for the api^roaching conflict. 

Besolved, That it is our candid judgment that the present is an auspi- 
cious moment to inaugurate such a measure, and that, while we would not \ 
presume to dictate, we would most respectfully request the General As- 
sembly of the Presbyterian Church, now in session in this city (Pitts- 
burg), toiDut forth a suitable deliverance upon these important subjects, i 
and to take steps to have such action concurred in by other branches of ) 
our American Protestant Church, so as to bring about the formation of a 
great national Protestant league, which, by its constitution, shall be fully 
up to the urgent demands and necessities of the times. 

Besolved, That a committee of four ministers and three laymen be ap- 
pointed by this meeting to present this subject to the General Assembly, 
and to be associated with a similar committee to be appointed by that 
body in devising plans by which a general and concerted movement of all 
the Protestant force in the land may be brought about, and bold, contin- 
uous, and vigorous protest, by word and act, shall be enunciated against 



TEMPERANCE AND TOBACCO. 479 

both infidelity and Eoman Catholicism, the arch-enemies of truth in the 
midst of the professing Church of God, and arch-traitors to civil and re- 
ligious freedom throughout the world. 

These resolutions elicited the warm approval of the Assembly to that 
degree that they appointed a large committjee to carry out the spirit of 
them in co-operation with committees which may be, or have been, ap- 
pointed by other denominations for a like purpose. The subject has 
been urged also on the attention of this body, by private letters enti- 
tling it to serious consideration. Your committee, therefore, recom- 
mend the passage of the following resolution by this Congregational 
Council : — 

Besolved, That a committee, consisting of five clergymen and an equal 
number of laymen, be appointed, to act in concert with other committees 
similarly appointed by other evangelical denominations, for the purpose 
of giving expression to our desire for more outward fellowship, and 
more vigorous co-o]3eration for the defense of Protestant Christianity 
against the encroachments of Koman Catholicism and infidelity in our 
land. 

For the Committee, 

Jeremiah Taylor, Chairman. 
The report was adopted. 

TEMPEKANCE AND TOBACCO. 

Rev. Dr. Blodgett, on behalf of the committee on Temper- 
ance, read the following report : — 

The special committee to whom was referred the subject of temper- 
ance, under the form of an inquiry, " whether any, and, if so, what de- 
liverance should be made on the subject by the National Council," make 
the following report : — 

It is eminently fitting that the Council send forth to the nation a dis- 
tinct and solemn testimony in favor of the principles of temperance. 
The subject is too tenderly associated with the labors and " blessed mem- 
ory " of many of the fathers in our ministry who gave to it their labors 
and their prayers ; and it too deeply concerns the interests of morality 
and religion for the present and for the future of our blood-bought coun- 
try to allow us to refrain from giving it an open and hearty indorsement. 

Intemperance is a sin against God, a curse to society, a foe to the 
purity of the Church and its ministry, a corruption of the young, a hin- 
drance to the profitable hearing of the word of God, and so to the conver- 
sion and salvation of men. Under various pretenses of health and hos- 
pitaHty, and by various influences of appetite and gain, and those growing 
out of the late war with rebellion, drinking usages are widely iDrevailing, 



480 TEMPERANCE AND TOBACCO. 

to the danger of all, and to the destruction of many of our young men, the 
late defenders, and the future hope, of our country. 

That the alarming progress of the evil may be arrested, and our coun- 
try saved from a more disastrous doom than that in which the late rebel- 
lion threatened to involve it, in the name of humanity, patriotism, moral- 
ity, and religion, yea, in the name of God, we earnestly invite the co-op- 
eration of ministers and Christians, of teachers in our schools, of officers 
in our colleges, of our legislators and our ministers of justice, of our physi- 
cians and lawyers, and of our rulers in all departments of government, that 
our nation may be saved from the dangers which impend from the in- 
creasing prevalence of intemperance. 

We would give the trumpet that certain sound which such men as Ly- 
man Beecher and Justin Edwards gave, when the nation was aroused 
from its guilty slumber, and marshaled under God for that great moral 
battle, in which the friends of temperance so signally triumphed. 

The committee submit for the adoption of the Council the following 
resolutions, namely : 

1. Hesolved, That this Council hails with satisfaction and gratitude to 
God the renewal of temperance efforts, in a Christian spirit, and on the 
scriptural principle of self-denial for personal safety and the good of others, 
efforts long successfully urged by wise and good men in our own minis- 
try and churches, and in the ministry and churches of other denomina- 
tions ; and that we regard the family, the Sunday school, the Church and 
the congregation, and above all the ministry, as the fitting channels of 
influence, on this as on all other great moral questions. 

2. Besolved, That while we accept with thankfulness the aid of legis- 
lation, in the conflict with intemperance, we must still rely mainly upon 
moral and spiritual appliances for progress and final triumph ; and that 
we hold the temperance enterprise thus prosecuted to be just ore method 
of that home evangelization in which this Council is so deep/y and so 
properly engaged, and that, too, a method indispensable to the complete 
success of that divine work of evangelization. 

3. Besolved, That, while we acknowledge with great satisfaction the emi- 
nent services of many of the medical profession in the cause of temper- 
ance, we hold it to be matter of regret that such numbers prescribe in- 
toxicating beverages for convalescent and other patients : and we would 
earnestly inquire if the superior science and wisdom of the profession 
can not find substitutes for such inebriating tonics, the use of which will 
be attended with less peril to those who are under the power of an incipi- 
ent or confirmed appetite for intoxicating drinks. 

4. Besolved, That we receive with satisfaction the invitation to send a 
delegation to the National Temperance Convention to be holden at Sara- 
toga, New York, August 1st, 1865 ; and that we respond to that invita- 
tion by appointing six delegates, headed by our respected Moderator, to 
that convention, with the desire to add the testimony of this national 



TEMPERANCE AND TOBACCO. 481 

body to that of the many State and local bodies to be represented in that 

convention, 

(Signed) C. Blodgett, 

Z. S. Baestow, 
William Thurston, 
Lorenzo D.'Dana, • 
C. A. Stackpole, 
J. Collie. 

Kev. Dr. Bacon, of Connecticut, moved to amend the resolutions by 
striking out the words, " in the form and to the extent of prohibition," 
and said : I think it will be unfortunate, and to an extent disastrous, 
to commit this Council to that particular style of legislation ; for it is my 
most solemn conviction, which I utter here knowing that it will cost me 
something, that the temperance cause was wrecked on the rock of the 
Maine law ; that the quackery of such legislation has been the ruin of the 
cause, from which it can not be rescued until we cut ourselves clear 
of the whole scheme of legislating alcohol out of the creation of God. 

Kev. Mr. Gulliyer, of Connecticut. I hope we shall retain that 
word. We have all made up our minds upon it, and I hope we shall 
have a delibera^te vote upon it. 

Kev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio. I am ready to vote for it, not because I 
am opposed to prohibition, but because the omission will strengthen the 
sentence. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

Mr. Williams of Flushing, N'ew York, said: I have been a very 
interested sj)ectator of these proceedings for the last ten days, but have 
not let my voice be heard before. I do it now with diffidence; but I feel 
constrained to move to add the following resolution: 

Besolved, That this Council while it bears its solemn testimony against 
the evil of intemperance, would also bear its testimony against its twin 
vice, the improper use of tobacco, particularly by ministers and church- 
members. 

Kev. Mr. Dexter, of Massachusetts, raised the question of order, that 
the resolution should come" through the Business Committee. 

Kev. Dr. Blodgett, of Khode Island. Certain resolutions upon the 
subject of the use of tobacco were referred to the committee. The com- 
mittee agreed that these papers belonged to a different category, and did 
not think it within their province to ask for any action respecting them. 
We had already prepared our report upon the subject of temperance. 

Kev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio. I should probably vote for the amend- 
ment; but I know it would lead to a long discussion, for there are mem- 
bers here who would speak at length against it. And therefore, with no 
unfriendhness to the object of the mover, I move to lay the amendment 
upon the table. 

The motion to lay upon the table was rejected. 

31 



482 TEMPERANCE AND TOBACCO. 

Eev. Mr. Webb, of Massachusetts. It will kill the -whole thing if we 
load it down in this way. If one member objects to tobacco, another 
will object to tea and coffee, and another to something else, and the 
whole will be defeated. That is my reason for voting against the 
amendment. 

Rev. Dr. Blodgett, of Rhode Island. I think the committee were 
unanimous in the judgment that we should not indulge in the use of nar- 
cotics ; but we were of one mind that it would be unwise to marry this 
special reform to the great temperance question ; and it was certain 
that I would not be the instrument of marrying the two in this Coun- 
cil; and I ask the Council not to comjDel me to stand in that attitude. 

Rev. Mr. Quint, of Massachusetts. So far as the resolution goes, it 
meets my views precisely, and I should be, under proper circumstances, 
ready to vote for it. But I do not think it is a proper question to be 
brought before the ]^ational Council of Congregational Churches. 

Furthermore, this Council has four times summarily put out of the 
way such resolutions, when they were fully represented. It would 
hardly be proper to have it now passed upon in a very thin house, sud- 
denly sprung in this way at the close of our session. These are my rea- 
sons for voting against this joarticular resolution. The other three I 
should have voted against ujdou principle, because they were wrong. 
This one is not; it is right, so far as it goes ; but I do not think it is 
right to adopt it in this way. 

The amendment was rejected. 

Rev. Mr. Webb, of Massachusetts. There is an expression in the res- 
olution that I should be glad to see stricken out, that we hold temper- 
ance to be one of the methods of home evangelization. We gain nothing 
by identifying temperance with religion, and making one seem the other. 
I hope the question whether it is home evangelization or not, will be 
left for us to decide individually. I move that that clause be stricken 
out. 

Rev. Dr. Eddy, of Massachusetts. I hope that will not pass, because 
moral reform is a part of home evangelization. I do not want to divorce 
temperance from religion. I think they have been married by God 
himself, and ought not to be put asunder. 

Rev. Mr. Webb, of Massachusetts. Temperance. is the fruit of evan- 
gelization, but it is not itself evangelization. You may make a man 
temperate, and yet he may go to hell if you can not make him pious, too. 

The amendment was rejected. 

Mr. Thurston, of Massachusetts, moved to amend by striking 
out everything relating to legislation ; for if we can not have 
prohibitory legislation it is better not to have any, and not to 
have legislation for licenses. 

Rev. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio, suggested that the amendment was 



TEMPERANCE AND TOBACCO. 483 

unneceosary; that the resokition referred to the "aid" of legislation, 
which could not mean legislation against temperance, and which did not 
exclude prohibition. 

Eev. Dr. Blodgett, of Ehode Island, said that the cause had received 
great aid from legislation in times past, and that it was proper to ac- 
knowledge, under God, although we might not rely upon it for the 
future. 

Gov. BuciaNGHAM (Mr. Hammond in the chair), said: " I beg leave 
to say one thing on the question of legislation on the subject of temper- 
ance. I believe we want all the aid we can secure from any and every 
proper source to aid in the cause of temperance. There are men to be 
restrained by persuasion; there are other men to be held in check by 
positive legislation. [Applause.] We want both. I do not ask and I 
would not have an amendment in that report requiring prohibition ; but I 
do ask that there shall be nothing stricken out to show that this Council 
are ready to reject all the co-operating influences of legislation. The 
best comment that I have known upon the prohibitory law has been 
before this nation within the past few days. I had the pleasure of being 
in Washington during the great review, and having been there forty- 
eight hours, and seen those streets thronged with tens of thousands of 
men, women, and children, and more than one hundred and fifty thou- 
sand soldiers, I saw not one intoxicated — not one. [Applause.] That 
was under the power of the military law, for every grogshop and every 
bar was closed by military authority. But no sooner was that military 
authority removed, no sooner were those grogshops and those bars 
opened again, than there was a scene of confusion and rioting which 
required military force for its suppression; and in order to prevent 
disorder in the city of Washington, orders were again issued by military 
authority that those places should be closed from seven o'clock at night 
until seven in the morning. Then again peace and order were restored. 
In view of these facts, I ask that this Council shall not utter a word that 
shall prevent proper legislation upon this subject. I do not ask for a 
prohibitory law. Let men judge as circumstances may determine. 
[Applause.] 

Eev. Mr. Gulliver, of Connecticut. I am persuaded that this 
Council did not properly measure the consequences of the vote passed 
just now, striking out the clause relating to " jDrohibition." I think if 
that clause had never been -put in, it would have been a very difierent 
matter. But we have deliberately excluded that clause, upon the ground 
stated by the Eev. Dr. Bacon, that he believed that prohibition had 
killed the cause. We have, in a degree, indorsed that opinion. 
Several Members. ISTo, no. 

Eev. Mr. Gulliver, of Connecticut. I think we have ; and I think 
a great many will so understand it. I appeal to some gentleman in the 
majority to move a reconsideration of that vote, that we may not even 
appear upon the record as opposed to a prohibitory law. 

Eev. Mr. Webb, of Massachusetts. For the gratification of the gen- 
tleman, I move a reconsideration, although I shall certainly vote against 



484 LINCOLN COLLEGE. 

it. Whatever reason Dr. Bacon may have assigned for his motion, we 
adopted it upon our own deliberate judgment. 

The motion to reconsider was rejected. 

Rev. Dr. Dutton", of Connecticut. I am afraid we are doing some- 
thing rash in adopting that part of the report pertaining to medicines. 
Does not that imply that, in our judgment, intoxicatino: drinks are not to 
be given to convalescent persons ? 

Several Meimbers. Ko, no. 

The report of the committee was adopted. 

LLNCOLN college. 

Eev. Prof. Park, from the committee on Collegiate and Theo- 
logical Education, reported the following resolutions : — . 

Besolved, That in order to the raising up of an educated ministry 
for the supply of the churches of the new States, now becoming filled by 
the advancing tide of population, and to meet the large demands of those 
States which recent events have opened to Christian influence, it is a 
fundamental necessity that well-endowed and well-manned collegiate 
and theological institutions should be established, and that, too, in the 
best positions. 

Eesalved, That the societj^ for the Promotion of Collegiate and The- 
ological Education at the "West — in rendering efficient aid to fourteen 
Collegiate and Theological Institutions, scattered from Eastern Ohio to 
the Pacific coast, so placing them on sure foundations, and in so man- 
aging this whole subject, as at once to have saved the churches from 
annoyance, and to have given a wise direction to their, charities — has 
accomplished a work of great and enduring benefit, which this Council 
recognize with gratitude to God, by whose help it has been wrought. 

Besolved, That in view of the great work remaining to be done, 
both at the West, and in the South, and the admirable adaptation of this 
society to the accomjDlishment of it with the least possible friction and 
expense — this Council do heartily commend it to the increased confidence 
and larger liberality of the churches represented here. 

RESOLUTION ON LINCOLN COLLEGE. 

Whereas our brethren in Kansas are laying the foundations of a 
Congregational College, which shall, on the field of its early victory, be 
a monument of the triumph of freedom over slavery ; a memorial of that 
Christian emancipator, whose name it bears ; a source of ministerial 
supply for the Missouri valley and the regions beyond: Therefore, 

Besolved, That we commend the enterprise to the confidence, sym- 
pathy and liberal support of all friends of ^ew England principles and 
l)olity, of civil and religious liberty, and of home evangelization ; and yet 



COMMITTEES. 485 

that their appeal to the public be only through and in accordance with 
the rules of the Society for the Promotion of Collegiate and Theo- 
logical Education at the West. 

Rev. Dr. Sturtevant, of Illinois, moved to strike out the last 
resolution, upon the ground that the Council should not make 
discriminations among the various institutions in the West that 
are claiming aid. 

Eev. Prof. Park explained that the friends of Lincoln College desired 
the passage of the resolution because another college had been organ- 
ized, bearing the same name, and founded upon no religious principles. 

Kev. Mr. Bodwell, of Kansas. Our object is not to place ourselves 
in an invidious position with reference to other colleges ; but there is a 
movement to establish another college upon an unchristian basis, to 
bear the name of Mr. Lincoln. We think that Kansas is as good a 
place to build that monument as anywhere else. It is there that the 
first blood was shed ; it is there that the conflict commenced. You talk 
of your Massachusetts martyrs who fell in the streets of Baltimore. The 
grass was growing upon the graves of our martj^rs before they fell. We 
have sent, too, the most men into the army of the Union in proportion 
to our numbers. We think we are entitled above all other places to 
build a monument to Mr. Lincoln. We took this name before it became 
a power, before the death of Mr. Lincoln, and we think Providence has 
indicated that we are to build that monument. We want this indorse- 
ment, not »to aid us in going before the churches, but to avoid being 
forestalled by another monument that from its greater nearness to the 
centers of wealth might overshadow ours. We are small, weak, and 
unknown. We wish, therefore, to place the name of our institution upon 
the records of this body, so that any attempt to forestall our movement 
may be suppressed. 

The amendment was withdrawn, and the report was adopted. 

Rev. Mr. Langworthy, from the committee on Nominations, 

reported the following committees ; and the report was adopted. 

Delegates to Temperance Convention. — Hon. William A. Buckingham, 
of Connecticut; Hon. Edward D. Holton, of Wisconsin; Dea. Charles 
A. Stackpole, of Maine; Rev. Henry M. Dexter, of Massachusetts. 

On the Special Fund. — Rev. Edwin B. Webb, of Massachusetts; 
Rev. Thomas P. Field, d. d., of Connecticut; Rev. John C. Holbrook, 
of Kew York; Rev. George S. E. Savage, of Illinois; Rev. Richard 
Hall, of Minnesota. 

On the American Protestant Assembly. — Rev. Jeremiah Taylor, d. d., 
of Connecticut; David S. Williams, of J^ew York; Rev. William Car- 
ter, of Illinois; Hon. Edward D. Holton, of Wisconsin; Rev. John 



486 PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 

Patchin, of Michigan ; Richard J. Patterson, m. d., of Iowa ; Rev. 
Charles Shedd, of Minnesota; Rev. Ezra Byington, of Yermont; Dea. 
Sampson W. Buffum, of ^N'ew Hampshire; Dea. Jacob Blanchard, of 
Maine. 

COMMITTEE ON STATEMENT OF CHURCH POLITY. 

Hon. Mr. Hammond, of the special committee appointed to 
nominate a committee on Church Polity, reported the follow- 
ing: 

Rev. Leonard Bacon, d. d., of Connecticut; Rev. Alonzo H. Quint, of 
Massachusetts; Rev. Henry M. Storrs, .D. D., of Ohio; Rev. Edwards 
A. Park, D. d., of Massachusetts; Rev. Samuel Harris, D. D., of Maine; 
Rev. Samuel C. Bartlett, D. D., of Illinois; Rev. George P. Eisher, of 
Connecticut; Rev. James H. Fairchild, of Ohio; Rev. John P.Gulliver, 
of Connecticut; Rev. Benjamin Labaree, D. D., of Vermont; Rev. Mark 
Hopkins, D. D., of Massachusetts ; Rev. William Barrows, of Mas- 
sachusetts; Rev. Julian M. Sturtevant, D. D., of Illinois; Rev. Truman 
M. Post, D. D., of Missouri; Rev. Edward Beecher, D. D., of Illinois; 
Bev. William Salter, D. D., of Iowa; Rev. James S. Hoyt, of Michigan; 
Rev. David Burt, of Minnesota; Rev. Joseph P. Thompson, d. d., of 
]!!«5'ew York ; Hon. Woodbury Davis, of Maine ; Hon. Henry Stockbridge, 
of Maryland; Hon. John H. Brockway, of Connecticut; Rev. Nathaniel 
A. Hyde, of Indiana; Rev. Leonard Swain, D. d., of Rhode Island; Rev. 
Richard Cordley, of Kansas; Asahel Einch, of Wisconsin; Warren 
Currier, Esq., of Missouri; and, # 

On motion. Rev. Rufus Anderson, D. D., of Massachusetts, 
was added to represent the missionary cause. 
The report was adopted. 

PAROCHIAL EYA:KrGELIZATIOK. 

Rev. Mr. Robinson, of Massachusetts, on behalf of the com- 
mittee on Parochial Evangelization, presented the following re- 
port : 

The committee, to whom was submitted the paper on Parochial Evan- 
gelization, presented to the Council, would respectfully report. 

The relation which the work of Parochial Evangelization bears to 
other objects of Christian enterprise will be obvious at a glance. It is 
preliminary, and, as a condition of ultimate success, indispensable. 
How, for instance, can the great work of evangelization at the West and 
South, which has occupied so large a portion of the time of this Council, 
be carried on, unless our home communities are pervaded and permeated 
by the spirit of the gospel ? How are foreign missions to be sustained, 
if heathenism is intrenched on our own shores ? Whence are to coi^ie 



PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 487 

the future ministers and missionaries of the cross, if there are no Chris- 
tian homes, and young men consecrated from their infancy to Christ and the 
church ? How are collegiate and theological institutions to be estab- 
lished and" endowed, unless the wealth of the land is in the hands of men, 
who, having first given themselves to God, acknowledge his claim upon 
all that thej^ possess ? How are the treasuries of our various benevolent 
societies to be supplied, if there are no springs of piety and Christian 
sympathy to feed the channels of benevolence, and swell the streams that 
make glad the city of our God ? We do not say that no foreign work is 
to be done until the whole home field is cultivated, and made as the gar- 
den of the Lord,— that, until our own parishes are thoroughly evangelized, 
the heathen must be left to perish; but what hope can we have of final 
success in converting the world to Christ, unless his kingdom be estab- 
lished in the hearts and homes of our own people ? The stream will not 
rise above the fountain. The fruits of the Spirit must somewhere be 
grown before they can be transplanted and propagated. "What advan- 
tage will it be to build new churches at the West and South if the churches 
of Xew England are to die out and disappear ? Why plant a Christian 
empire in the heart of Asia or Africa with a heathen population at our 
very doors ? Let not the church, " who is the mother of us all," ever be 
obliged to say, " They made me the keeper of the vineyards, but mine 
own vineyard have I not kept." 

Your committee are more and more impressed with the importance of 
this work. They have carefully examined and considered the report 
submitted to their inspection. They indorse substantially the recom- 
mendations appended at the close, and commend the report as a whole to 
the earnest and prayerful consideration of the churches represented in 
Council. 

The committee do not feel called upon to discuss anew the general 
subject; this is not necessary. But there are certain fundamental truths 
or principles brought to view in the report, to which they would call 
special attention, that it may be understood what is the precise work, 
and what substantially are the measures, to which the Council virtually 
pledge themselves, should the report in question be adopted. 

1. The Church in its Design. 

The church is a brotherhood of believers, united in the bonds of Chris- 
tian fellowship, for the upbuilding of Christ's kingdom among them- 
selves and throughout the world. In its very nature and design, the 
church is aggressive ; nor will it have done its work until every man, 
woman, and child is brought under the power of the gospel. 

2. The Parochial Belations of the Church. 

Every local church is the center of a parish, more or less extended, as 
the case may be. Geographical limits can not always be assigned, nor is 
it necessary that they should be. Two or more parishes may come withiu 
the same bounds, and cover much the same ground. The parish of 
each church consists of all the families not belonging to other congre- 
gations within its reach. For the evangelization of these, it is held of 
God responsible. There may be outlying districts, neglected neigh- 



488 ' PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 

borhoods, on the borders of towns and villages. These also are to be 
cared for. In some way, by systematic visitation, by neighborhood 
prayer-meetings and occasional preaching services, by mission Sabbath 
schools and the distribution of religious books and tracts, *by the cir- 
culation of the Scriptures and the employment perhaps of Bible-readers, 
the people of such outlying neighborhoods are to be made acquainted 
with the truths of the gospel. And these movements are to be under 
the supervision of the church ;^ not spasmodic, but steady; not philan- 
thropic simply, but Christian; the forth-putting, on the part of the 
church, of its activity and power. All effort in the work of parochial 
evangelization that is not connected with the local church, and does not 
bring the evangelized masses within the fold, and under the watch and 
care of the church, will prove futile. 

3. Church Accommodations and Worship. 

Ample accommodations are to be provided for all who are disposed, 
or who can be persuaded, to attend upon the services of the sanctuary. 
The style of church architecture should be such as to bring the pew 
sittings within the reach of the poorer classes. The sanctuarj^ should be 
made attractive also, not by costly embellishment, but by a clear and 
winning exhibition of the truth as it is in Jesus. There is no such power 
to sway the hearts of men as is found in the simple preaching of the 
doctrines of the cross. In "the service of song in the house of the 
Lord," it is the duty and privilege of all, so far as they may, to partici- 
pate. There is devotion in such singing more than in the performances 
of a few hired singers. The Scriptures, whether read or chanted, should 
have prominent place in any church service ; while the offering of prayer 
should be, not a prescribed form, but the free out-breathing of a soul in 
habitual communion with God. With such a service, however humble 
the structure in which it was held, the people would be drawn to the 
house of God, and they who came to scoff, perhaps, remain to pray. 

4. The Duty of Ministers. 

It is the duty of every minister of Christ to explain to his people the 
nature and methods of this work of parochial evangelization, and to direct 
them in it. He is himself, so far as health and other circumstances may 
allow, to take the initiative. Like his divine Lord, he is to seeh, as well 
as to attempt to save, the lost. In going forth to the remoter sections 
of his parish, and preaching the gospel from house to house, in the 
patient endurance of toil and hardship and self-denial in this blessed 
work, he is to be an ensample to the flock. More especially is he to lay 
upon the hearts and consciences of the people to whom he ministers the 
responsibility that properly devolves upon them. He is to make them 
see and feel that they have something to do ; that they were called into 
the kingdom of Christ to labor, and not to rest. He is to guide them, 
teach them, show them how they may be useful. He is to inspire them, 
to animate them, with his own spirit of self-denial, and devotion to the 
Master's cause. If he is not equal to this, he is- not fit for his place. 
" Behold," says the prophet, " I have given him for a witness to the 
people, a leader and commander to the people." And such should every 



PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 489 

minister of Clirist be among the jDeople of his charge, — a leader as well 
as a witness. 

5. Lay Preaching. 

The duty of laymen, in their ot\ti way and sphere, to preach the gos- 
pel of Christ, is now acknowledged. All are to spread the glad tidings. 
A personal responsibility rests upon every member of the church to 
engage in this work. Ministers are no more called of God to win 
souls to Christ than laymen. " Let him that heareth say, Come." One 
may preach in the pulpit, and the other just as really, and perhaps 
more persuasively, in his warehouse or workshop. " Lord, what wilt 
thou have me to do ? " is the question which every professed disciple of 
Christ should raise from day to day. " Where can I be most useful ? " 
" How can I most honor him who loved me, and gave himself for me ? " 
The church is supposed to be a body of workers, hot of drones. " We, 
then, as workers together with him," says Paul. If any man will not 
work, neither shall he eat of that spiritual bread which came down from 
heaven. The question has been raised, whether the time has not come 
for setting apart an order of lay evangelists. And this matter is cer- 
tainly worthy of consideration. Let no man run before he is sent; but 
when he is sent of God, then let him not stay. 

6. Special Efforts for the Young. 

Efforts are to be made for the conversion of all, but more especially 
for the children and youth. They are the hope of the flock. Let them 
be gathered, one and all, into the Sabbath school, under competent 
teachers, " wise to win souls to Christ." Let the old system of cate- 
chetical instruction be revived, or some substitute be found, which shall 
be equally crowned and blessed of God. Let more prominence be given 
to the rite and doctrine of infant baptism. Let Christian parents be 
instructed as to their duty and privilege in this particular, until they 
shall come to see the preciousness of covenant blessings, proffered to 
them and their seed after them. Let the hearts of the fathers be turned 
unto the children, and the hearts of the children unto the fathers, that 
the curse may be averted, and the pains and penalties of the Old Testa- 
ment be converted into the promises of the Kew. Children should be 
brought to the house of God also. The Sabbath school is no proper 
substitute for the regular church service any more than for household 
religious instruction. Sermons to children should be preached occasion- 
ally, and other means devised to instruct them in the truth and the 
gospel. He who said, "Feed my sheep," said also, " Feed my lambs." 

7. The Home Frayer-Meeting. 

The committee attach great importance to this. The object of the 
meeting should be to devise ways and means for reaching the neglected 
classes of the community; those who live under the very eaves of. the 
sanctuary, and yet have never been persuaded to enter. Prayer should 
be oflered with special reference to this object. Reports should be 
received from visiting committees, tract distributers, Bible readers, 
when such have been appointed. The pastor should give some account 
of his labors, of the encouragements he has met, and the diocourage- 



490 PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 

ments and obstacles with which he has to contend. The main point 
should be, not so much to make the meeting interesting as useful. Then 
it will prove both interesting and useful; a meeting which the churches 
will not be willing to forego. 

8. The Social Element in the Church. 

How can we make the most of the social influence and power of the 
church ? is a most important inquiry. There is felt to be a want in all 
our churches, — a want of sympathy and mutual love. We are not one as 
Christ jprayed that we might become. There are lines of division in the 
church which ought to be obliterated. How to obviate this difficulty is 
the problem to be solved. It is related of one whose name and memory 
are indissolubly associated with this church edifice,^ whose hands helped 
to build these walls, and whose spirit still lingers about the sanctuary in 
which he so long worshiped (the late Deacon Safford), that he " regarded 
the family of Christ as his own family." It was his custom to keep a 
list of the members of the church, and to cultivate a personal acquaint- 
ance with each, — loving those united with him in these sacred bonds 
"with a pure heart fervently." This sheds light upon the subject so far 
as the officers of the church are concerned. Something can be done also 
in the way of social gatherings, meetings of sewing societies, etc. 
What is wanted is simply to bring those who are members of the mysti- 
cal body of Christ heart to heart. Then also will they see " eye to eye." 
There ought to be no tie so tender and strong as that which binds one 
church-member to another; no feeling of love like that which wells up 
in the heart of every believer from that common fountain whence we 
draw our spiritual life. Over the portals of our churches, that all who 
enter there may read, should be inscribed, " Love the Brotherhood." ~ 

9. Higher Standard of Piety in the Church. 

We might almost say that the whole work of parochial evangeli- 
zation resolves itself into this. Let the standard of piety be elevated; 
let every church-member feel that he is called of God and consecrated 
to the work of serving Christ in saving lost men; that this is his 
mission, and not to get money or achieve a high social position, — the 
work which is given to him as a Christian man to do, and by which he 
is to prove that he is a Christian man, — and there would be no further 
need of discussion as to the methods of parochial evangelization. A way 
would be opened, a broad highway, in which every consecrated believer 
in Jesus would delight to walk. What we want on the part of the mem- 
bership of the churches is more humility, more brokenness of spirit, a 
deeper and truer penitence for sin. We want a stronger love for Christ, 
a more abiding sense of obligation to him. We want, as ministers and 
laymen, more of the spirit of self-denial and self-sacrifice, the spirit of 
the cross, — a willingness to be anything or do anything if only God may 
be glorified, and we glorified in him. The evangelization, not of our 
parishes simply, but of the world, is an easy problem when contemplated 
from this point of view. 

1 Mt. Vernon Church. 



PAROCHIAL EVANGELIZATION. 491 

10. The Abiding Presence and Power of the Holy Ghost. 

We live under the dispensation of the Spirit. This fact is never to be 
lost sight of in all our plans and efforts. The doctrine of the Holy 
Ghost, of his personality and power, should be made very prominent in 
the preaching of ministers at the present day. There have been three 
grand epochs in the history of the world. In the first, God the Father 
was the principal actor. In the second, God the Son. Now appears 
God the Holy Ghost, to whom it is given to complete the glorious work. 
He is the source of all spiritual hfe and strength. Without him we are 
nothing. And just here is our danger in this work of home evangeliza- 
tion. We mature our plans, we organize our forces, we enter upon the 
work. The machinery is perfect, and we expect great results. But the 
spirit of iDower does not rest upon us, and we can accomplish nothing. 
How different is it when the Spirit is poured out from oii high ! 

But we need the continued presence of the Spirit in our churches, and 
this was the promise of Christ : " And I will pray the Father, and He 
shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever." 
We have our seasons of refreshing followed by seasons of spiritual 
declension. How can we constrain the blessed Spirit to abide with us ? 
The question still remains to be answered. One thing, however, is cer- 
tain: when that time shall come, the problem which now seems so diffl 
cult will have been solved. ",Then will the Lord create upon every 
dwelling-place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud of 
smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for upon all 
the glory shall be a defense." Then every house will have its altar, and 
from every hearthstone will ascend incense and a pure offering. " Then 
judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the 
fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the 
effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever." May the 
Lord hasten it in his time I 

E. T. EOBINSON, 

A. S. Chesebkough, 
' J. M. Holmes, 

H. M. Goodwin, 

D. Burt, 

E. CORDLEY, 

J. T. Ford. 
The report was accepted. 

Eev. Dr. Adams, of Maine. I would make a request, rather than a 
motion, that the phrase, " and not by artistic singing from hired choirs," 
be stricken out; not but that I am heart and soul, from top to toe, in 
sympathy with the sentiment, but that many of our churches do employ 
hired singers, and I would not reflect upon them. 

Hon. Mr. Hammond, of Illinois. I would ask if we are for ever to be 
striking out things which we believe from the bottom of our hearts to 
be true. 



492 FAST-DAY. 

At the suggestion of Rev. Dr. Button, of Connecticut, — 

Rev. Dr. Adams modified his request, and formally moved to 
amend so as to read, " There is devotion in such singing more 
than in the performance of a few hired singers," etc. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

On motion of Rev. Dr. Leavitt, of New York, the word 
" supervision " was substituted for " control," in speaking of 
the efforts in evangelizing parishes, &c., so as to read that they 
'' should be under the supervision of the church." 

The report was then adopted. 

CHUECH IK washikgto:n', d. c. 

Rev. Mr. Buckingham, from the committee on the Church in 
Washington, D. C, read the following report : — 

The Committee preferred that no specific sum should be recom- 
mended, but that the whole matter should be referred to the Congrega- 
tional Union, and therefore recommend the adoption of the following 
resolution : , . 

Besolved, That the trustees of the American Congregational Union, | 
be advised and requested to take into consideration the importance of a 
well-sustained Congregational Church in the city of Washington ; and, 
having ascertained what facilities there are for the establishment of such 
a church, and what aid will be necessary to institute the arrangement, 
according to their best judgment and discretion, to build or purchase a 
suitable edifice in the ISTational Capital in which a Congregational Church 
may maintain the preaching of the gospel and public worship of God. 

The resolution was adopted. 

TAST-DAY. 

Rev. Dr. Swain, of Rhode Island, read the following report 
of the committee upon a Day of Fasting and Prayer : — 

The committee would recommend that Thursday, the 14th day of Sep- 
tember next, be observed by the churches represented in this Council . 
as a day of fasting and prayer to Almighty God for the outpouring upon 
them of his Holy Spirit, so that this great convocation may be speedily 
followed by those good effects which were aimed at in the beginning, by 
a close union and a warmer mutual sympathy both among ourselves and 
with all who love our common Lord ; by a deeper and more intelligent 
grasp of the principles of our own faith and polity ; by a more earnest 
personal consecration to Christ and his kingdom ; by a new spirit of 
missionary zeal both in behalf of the work to be done abroad, and the 



THE ROLL. 493 

new and important fields to be occupied at home ; so that, having, like 
the primitive disciples, tarried at Jerusalem for " The promise of the 
Father," the ministry and the churches may go forth beneath a new and 
mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost to preach that gospel which brought 
our fathers to these shores, which is sent for the healing of the nations, 
and which is destined to lead the whole world unto Christ. The com- 
mittee would also recommend that a coanmittee of three be appointed to 
prepare, and issue to the churches as soon as possible, a circular to this 
effect, embracing also an appeal to the churches in behalf of the 750,000 
dollar fund. 

A member stated that the Massachusetts Conference holds its 
Convention upon Sept. 14th5 the day recommended by the com- 
mittee. 

After consultation, Friday, the 15th of September, was ap- 
pointed as the day of fasting and prayer. 

The report as amended was adopted. 

It was now half past two o'clock, and on motion of Rev. Mr. 
Quint, of Massachusetts, the hour of adjournment was postponed 
for half an hour. 

Rev. Dr. Andeesok, of Massachusetts. There were a few mistakes 
as to matters of fact in the answer to the foreign delegations, which it 
was Dr. Bacon's intention to ask permission to correct. 'He is not here, 
and, as the hour of adjournment is at hand, I would move that the chair- 
man be authorized to make such corrections in that report as shall make 
it correspond with matters of fact since ascertained. 

The motion was carried. 

Rev. Mr. Langworthy, from the committee on Nominations, 
reported the following names as the 

C0:»IMITTEE TO PREPARE A PASTORAL LETTER. 

Committee to prepare a Pastoral Letter. — Eev. Edward IST. Kirk, D. d., 
of Massachusetts ; Rev. Oliver E. Daggett, D. D., New York ; Kev. Asa 
Turner, of Iowa. 

THE ROLL. 

Rev. Dr. Beecher, of Illinois, from the committee on the 
Roll, presented their report, embracing the list of delegates, and 
in submitting it, said : — 

" In addition to this report, I wish to state certain things that should be 
understood in connection with the result of our labors, and which, unless 
there shall be an indication to the contrary, we shall consider as sanc- 
tioned by the assent of this body. 



494 THE ROLL. 

" The names in the list are arranged in alphabetical order, beginning 
with California and ending with Wisconsin. The mode of arrangement 
will be this : — At the National Council of the Congregational Churches 
of the United States of America, convened by letters missive issued by 
committees of the General Association, Conference or Convention of 
Maine, New Hampshire, etc. — specifying the States that in fact issued 
the letters, — were present from Maine, etc., delegates from the follow- 
ing churches : — then specify the churches that acted in the conference, 
and opposite put the names and residences of the delegates, by whom 
they were represented, and pursue that order through. 

" There was passed, subsequently to the appointment of this commit- 
tee, an order, ' That the committee on the roll be instructed to report the 
names of those members only who furnish a list of the churches that 
actually participated in the vote, by which they were chosen.' To this 
vote the committee were obliged to give a liberal construction in some 
cases, to wit, in the cases of Maryland, Delaware, and Tennessee, in 
which ' churches ' did not participate in the action, inasmuch as there 
was but one church in each of those States to act. In these cases, the 
church and delegate are reported, and the committee, in making out 
the roll, assumed that the proceedings in these cases were satisfactory, 
and to be considered as coming within the s]3irit of the invitation. 

" I would also state, that in some cases we accepted parole testimony 
as to the action of certain churches. For example : Here are certificates 
from three churches in Oregon that they elected G. H. Atkinson as a 
delegate to this body. The document which he brought was simply an 
appointment by the General Association of Oregon, which, according to 
the principles adopted, would not be satisfactory credentials. But there 
are, from three churches in Oregon, testimonials that they met as 
churches and elected him ; and he gave parole testimony that three 
other churches did the same. We have accepted that statement, and 
reported six churches from Oregon, instead of the three from which we 
had formal credentials. In other cases, where that principle applied, we 
have not reported the names of the churches, unless there were creden- 
tials that covered the case, or that which was considered satisfactory 
evidence that the churches had acted in the case, and were truly rejDre- 
sented. 

" I would also state that one church, which was not present by dele- 
gate deserves notice, for the sake of the moral impression, and that is 
the church in Utah. The facts in regard to this church are these : An 
invitation was sent by Dr, Bacon to the church, and a reply from the 
pastor located there received, stating that the letter had come to hand, 
and at the same time stating some very interesting facts with regard to 
that church — the only church in the territory of Mormonism, in the 
Salt Lake Citj^ ; and we felt that in some way this church, which does 
not properly come upon the roll, should be presented and commended 
to the sympathy of the Congregational Churches of the United States; 
and in connection with the proceedings of this Council, and with the 
consent of the body, the committee will in some way bring this to pass." 



MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS. 495 

The report of the committee was accepted. 

APPLICATIOiq^ FOR THE OPENING SERMON. 

Rev. Dr. Leavitt, of New York, stated that the publishers of 
the " Independent ". desired to print the sermon of Dr. Sturte- 
vant in next week's paper, and moved that the manuscript be 
returned to the preacher for that purpose. 

After some explanatory statements in regard to the matter by 
the scribe. Rev. H. M. Dexter, the motion was laid on the table 
upon the motion of Rev. P. R. Hurd, of Michigan. 

MISCELLANEOUS :MATTERS. 

Rev. Mr. Quint, of Massachusetts, from the committee on 
Business, stated that there were a few papers still remaining in 
the hands of that committee, and submitted them to the Council, 
as follows : — ' 

Besolved, That this Council recognize with thankfulness the blessing 
of God upon the instruction and influence of Sabbath schools, and com- 
mend this instrumentality to the deeper interest and more earnest 
prayers of the churches. 

Adopted. 

Resolved, That the following minute be entered upon the records of 
this Council : That the Council declares that no action that has been 
taken by this body is to be taken as adverse to any prohibitory action 
on the subject of temperance. 

Adopted. 

Besohed, That the official proceedings of this Council be published 
in the " Congregational Quarterly," and that the sum of two hundred dol- 
lars be appropriated toward the expense of printing, and that the pub- 
lishers be requested to issue as many copies of the same proceedings, 
in a separate form as shall be called for, at cost price. 

Adopted. 

Resolved, That the original records and papers of this Council, with 
the phonographic report, be, after the final adjournment, placed on per- 
petual deposit with the directors of. the American Congregational Asso- 
ciation, never to be removed from its library room; and that the 
directors be authorized to publish a volume of proceedings and debates. 

Adopted. 
Resolved, That when the work of the committee on a Platform of Polity 



496 FINANCES. 

is concluded, it be published under the care of a committee, by the 
directors of the American Congregational Association, who shall retain 
the copyright. 

Adopted. 

Besolved, That the Declaration of Taith adopted by this Council, and 
the Confession of Faith adopted by our Synod at Boston, in 1680, be 
printed with the report that the committee on Polity may make, that 
our doctrine and polity may go out together, and be easily obtained by 
every one of the churches. 

Adopted. 

The committee on Business recommended that the duty of 
compiling these documents be entrusted to the committee on 
Polity, and this recommendation was adopted. 

On motion of Kev. Mr. -Davis, of New Hampshire, it was ordered, That 
the committee on Church Polity be authorized, if they think best, to 
issue an epitome or digest of their large work for use and circulation 
among the churches, the copyright to be held in trust by the Directers 
of the American Congregational Association. 

Adopted. 

FINANCES. 

Dea. Stoddard, of Massachusetts. I do not understand how the 
matter of finance is left. Mr. Henry Hill is Treasurer, but he has never 
been appointed by this body. There is but little money in the treasury, 
probably not more than enough to pay expenses ; but, suppose money 
should come in after this body adjourns, who is to be the custodian of 
it ? I don't see that there is any provision made for that. 

Eev. Mr. Gulliyer, of Connecticut. I move that Mr. Henry Hill 
be the Treasurer of this body, and dispose of the money in his iDOSsession 
under the rules. 

Dea. Stoddard. Do I understand that the functions of the com- 
mittee on Finance cease when this body adjourns? 

The Moderator. Like all other ap]3ointees of this body, I think 
their duties are then at an end. 

Hon. Mr. Hammond, of Hlinois. There is a resolution upon the 
• subject, which was brought in by Mr. Barstow, which fixes the status of 
that committee. [The resolution was read by the scribe.] 

Dea. Stoddard. Then the committee lives after this body dissolves? 

Hon. Mr. Hammond. Yes, sir. 

Kev. Dr. Anderson, of Massachusetts. I think it would be well to 
appoint the treasurer upon that committee. 

Hon. Mr. Hammond. I would move that Mr. Henry Hill be added 
to the committee on Finance, with Dea. Stoddard. 

Adopted. 



CLOSING PROCEEDINGS. 49T 



MEMORIAL TO JOHN ROBINSON. 

Eev. Mr. Dexter, of Massachusetts. I desire to state that the house 
in which John Kobinson lived, in Leyden, has been identified in the 
square opposite the cathedral of St. Peter's, and our American Min- 
ister at one time intended to insert a stone in the wall, calling the 
attention of the traveler to the fact that he once lived ui)on that spot. 
I thought it would be a pleasant thing if this Council would author- 
ize the placing of a slab in the wall of that house, with a suitable 
inscrijDtion, testifying to the traveler, and to the students of the Univer- 
sity, which is very near the house, that the representatives of three 
thousand churches — fruits of the seed that was in the ground there for 
a little while — gratefully remember that John Robinson once dwelt and 
taught on that spot. It can be done without any expense to the Coun- 
cil. I move that a committee be appointed, and authorized to prepare 
a proper. inscription for a slab to be placed in that wall. 

The motion was carried, and R.ev. Messrs. Dexter and Well- 
man, of Massachusetts, were appointed that committee. 

CLOSING PROCEEDINGS. 

Eev. Mr. Quint. The business of the Council, so far as the committee 
know, is closed, with this exception, that two brethren desire to offer 
resolutions. Over forty committees have reported, and a great number 
of papers have been acted upon. "We move now that all business be 
closed, except to hear motions fi-om the Hon. Mr. Hammond, and Rev. 
Dr. Wolcott. 

Carried. 

Hon. Mr. Ha^oiond. The resolutions which I hold in my hand were 
placed there by Mr. Eustis : — 

Besolved, That this Council declare their high appreciation of the time 
and labor which have been ex^Deuded by the committees appointed by 
the preliminary meeting at Xew York, to prepare business for this 
Council, and especially to the committee of Arrangements at Boston, to 
whom they are indebted for innumerable attentions, and for that excur- 
sion to the spot where our forefathers first brought that Catholic Church 
whose order we maintain. They would also gratefully notice the invita- 
tions fi'om individuals and corporations, most of which we regret to have 
been obliged to decline. 

Besolved, secondly, That this National Council of the Congregational 
Churches of the United States do hereby return their thanks to the 
citizens of Boston and its vicinity for the generous hospitality which has 
been so munificently provided for the members during this session, and 
to the churches whose sanctuaries have been freely opened for their 
accommodation ; and pray the Lord who does not forget even a cup 
32 



498 CLOSING PROCEEDINGS. 

of cold water given a disciple, to reward with the richest spiritual 
blessings this community, for their abounding kindnesses and entertain- 
ments. 

The resolutions were adopted unanimously. 

Eey. Dr. Wolcott, of Ohio, offered the following resolution, 
which was unanimously adopted : — . 

Besolved, That the Council tenders its thanks to His Excellency, Gov. 
Buckingham, our honored Moderator, for the dignity, urbanity, and 
courtesy with which he has presided over its deliberations, to which, in 
part, we ascribe the pleasant cordiality of feeling, unmarred by bitter- 
ness or harshness, which has prevailed throughout its earnest discussions ; 
and as a National Council we express the satisfaction with which we are 
reminded by this assembly of the early days of our Puritan history, 
when the chief magistrates of the colonies were the servants of the 
churches, and the honors of the State were humbly laid at the foot of 
the cross. 

The Moderator replied as follows : — 

3£r. Moderator : I am not prepared — not able — properly to reply to 
that resolution. I remember, by history, that one hundred and fifty- 
seven years ago, my paternal ancestor presided as the Assistant Mod- 
erator at that synod which adojDted the Saybrook Platform. [Applause.] 
For me to occupy such a position as I do to-day, through your partiality, 
is a high privilege. I believe I occupy it, in part, in consequence of the 
partiality which has been manifested by the citizens of Connecticut 
toward me, in placing me in a position which has linked my name, for 
the few years past, with the government of that little State so intimately 
connected with the cause of liberty and civil government. [Applause.] 
This, also, has been an unspeakable privilege, occurring, as it has, during 
a period when all the interests of civil government have been, as it were, 
concentrated upon the events of the passing hour or year. Ko events 
have ever transpired, in the history of this world, of such importance to 
civilization, to civil government, to morality, and to religion, as the 
events which have transpired before us. It is a privilege to live at such 
a time; and it is a privilege to be the chief magistrate of a State whose 
patriotism goes down to the very depths of love, and ofiers her sons and 
her fathers as sacrifices on the altar of liberty. [Applause.] 

But there are still higher interests than those of merely civil govern- 
ment ; there are higher interests than those which are merely temporal ; 
for they will pass away. This Council binds us to those higher interests, 
reaching from this, on to another, life ; and to be connected with a body 
like this, which takes action for the promotion of those interests, is a 
higher privilege than is enjoyed by any man whose duties relate merely 
to earthly things. I rejoice in it. I am grateful to you ; I thank you 



CLOSING PROCEEDINGS. 499 

for your forbearance toward me. I am grateful to G-od who grants me 
this privilege. [Applause.] 

Rev. Dr. Wolcott also presented the following resolution, 
which was adopted, unanimously : — 

Besolved, That the ability with which the occasional and special ser- 
vices which have devolved upon our respected Assistant Moderators have 
been performed, and the promptness and thoroughness with which our 
Scribes have discharged their various duties, are entitled to special rec- 
ognition. And to all these ofiScers, also, the Council tenders its thanks for 
their faithfulness and efficiency. 

Hon. Mr. Hammond. In the absence of Dr. Thompson, I can only 
say we ■ sincerely thank you for the kindness with which you have 
received all we have attempted to do to carry forward the business of 
this Council. J would say one other word, and that is, that to the latest 
day of my hfe, I shall with gratitude and with joy look back to the do- 
ings of this Council, hoping, as I do, that all future generations will with 
us rejoice that this Council has met, — that it has met in Boston, and that 
it has done what it has. And may the Lord bless us all I [Applause.] 

The minutes of the day's proceedings were, at this point, read 
and approved. 

The Moderator. I understand that the Synod which was sum- 
moned in 1648 closed by singing the " Song of Moses and the Lamb." 
What version it was, I know not ; but I propose that we now sing three 
verses of that song, as it is found in the loQth hymn. Sing the first and 
the last two verses. 

The verses referred to are the following, and they were sung 
by the entire Council, the congregation also uniting : — 

" Awake, and sing the song 
Of Moses and the Lamb ; 
"Wake, every heart, and every tongue, 
To praise the Saviour's name ! 

" Soon shall we hear him say, 

' Ye blessed children, come ; ' 
Soon will he call us hence away 
To our eternal home. 

" Soon shall our raptured tongue 
His endless praise proclaim, 
And sweeter voices tune the song 
Of Moses and the Lamb." 



600 



CLOSING PROCEEDINGS. 



Rev. Rufus Anderson, d. d., of Massachusetts, then offered a 
fervent and solemn prayer, after which the Doxology was sung, — 

" To God the Father, God the Son, 
And God the Spirit, Three in One, 
Be honor, praise, and glory given, 
By all on earth, and all in heaven ! '* 

The Moderator then declared the Council adjourned, without 
day. 



(Signed) 



WILLIAM A. BUCKINGHAM, Moderator. 
JOSEPH P. THOMPSON, First Assistant. 
C. G. HAMMOND, Second Assistant. 
HENRY M. DEXTER, 
PHILO R. HURD, 
M. K. WHITTLESEY, }- Scribes. 
SAMUEL HOLMES, 
E. P. MARVIN, 



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INDEX OF SUBJECTS, 



PAGK 

Address of Welcome, 26 

Moderator, opening 30 

closing . * 498 

American and Eoreign Christian Union, .... 228, 229, 411, 413 

American Bible Society, 228, 341, 411 

American Board of Commissioners for Poreign Missions, . . . 228,411 
American Congregational Association, see " Committees" ; also, 220, 249, 253, 391, 

406, 407, 411, 495 
American Congregational Union, . . . . . .3, 239, 263, 409, 413 

American Education Society, . . ... . . . . . 229,411 

American Home Missionary Society, 228,260,411 

American Missionary Association, 229, 260, 411 V^ 

American Protestant Assembly, see "Committees"; also . . 181, 208, 485 

American Seaman's Priend Society, 228, 229 

American Sunday School Union, 341 

American Tract Societies, 341, 412, 415 

Andrew, Governor, visit of .' . 208,234 

address to 234 

response by . 235 

Baltimore, church in 359, 409' 

Benevolent Contributions, on systematizing, see " Committees " ; also . 222 

Bible and Science, . 237 

in Schools, 237 

Books and Tracts, see " Committees," 

Boston, welcomed to ... 17 

Boston, England, letter from 388,447 

Bunker Hill Monument, invitation to visit 54 

visit to ........ . 193 

California, communication from 181 

Canada, delegation from 64 

Charlestown, Pirst Church, invitation from .' 53 

session in 81,182,196. 

Navy Yard, invitation to 195 

Church Building, see " Committees " ; also 79, 197, 208, 262, 264, 266, 279, 302, 319 
Church Polity, see "Committees"; also 101, 117, 129, 152, 238, 274, 319, 360, 

427, 430, 447, 463, 486, 496 
Collegiate and Theological Education at the West, Society, 229, 258, 263, 411, 484 

Collegiate Education, see " Committees " ; also 181,258 

(517) 



518 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 

PAGE 

Committees appointed, and reference of subjects to, and reports from, — 

American Congregational Association 253 

report by . . . 391 

Protestant Assembly, 181, 208, 485 

report by .... 447 

Benevolent Contributions, systematizing . . . . 231, 239 

reports by . . . . . 410 

Books and Tracts, 238, 245, 253 

report by 341 

Business, 54, 71, 337, 360, 406 

reports by 78, 79, 81, 117, 148, 181, 196, 233, 234, 237, 245, 
249, 253, 258, 302, 358, 361, 384, 385, 397, 405, 407, 408, 447, 497 

Church Building, 208, 249, 250 

report by . • 262 

Church Polity, .... 133, 134, 182, 238, 360, 486, 496 

reports by 153, 427 

Collegiate Education, 181, 208, 258, 447 

report by 470, 484 

Country, condition of . . . .82, 133, 147, 181, 240, 250, 252 
report by . . . . 240, 250, 259 

Credentials of Member^, 29,52,151 

^ reports by .... 52,79,81,151 
Declaraition of Paith, . . 100, 101, 134, 161, 181, 237, 359, 365 

reports by 344, -400 

Devotional Exercises, 71,81,151 

reports by 101, 181 

Evangelization in the West and South, . . 161, 181, 196, 360 

reports by . . 259, 409 

Pinance, 71, 253, 496, 497 

reports by , 253, 279, 360 

Poreign Bodies, their course in the War, ... 95, 134, 493 

report by . . . 321 

Poreign Missions, 151,162,233 

report by . . . . . . . 231 

Italy, communication from 245 

report by ......... 338 

Massachusetts Convention of Congregational Ministers, communi- 
cation from 116,117,134 

Massachusetts Convention, report by 246 

Ministerial Education, 181, 196, 208, 239, 258 

report by 447 

Ministerial Support, . 161,239 

report by 385 

Nominations, 28, 54, 55, 64, 82, 83 

reports by 29, 71, 133, 161, 181, 182, 196, 208, 222, 239, 
245, 253, 408, 426, 427, 464, 485, 493 

Parochial Evangelization, 222, 234 

report by 486 

Pastoral Letter, 492 

Prayer and Fasting, day of 359, 409 

report by 492 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 519 

PAGB 

Committees appointed, &c., continued : 

Printing, 71 

report by ... 495 

Robinson, memorial to 497 

Roll of Members, 152,162,196,208,233 

report by 493 

Rules of Order, 29 

report by 55 

Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, raising of . , 360, 408 

report by . 464, 485 

, ' Temperance, 181, 182, 208, 258, 359 

report by 479 

Washington City, church in 181, 405 

report by 239, 492 

Worship, pubhc 405, 427 

report by 467 

Committees of the Preliminary Conference, appointment, and papers from, — 

Arrangements, : 10 

Benevolent Contributions, systematizing, appointed, 1 ; paper from, 222 

Church Building, - . .197 

Church Polity, appointed, 9 ; paper from . . . 101,117,129 

Declaration of Faith, appointed, 10; paper from .... 95 
Evangelization in the West and South, appointed, 9 ; paper from 135 
* Ministerial Education, appointed, 9 ; paper from . . 162, 196 

Ministerial Support, appointed, 9 ; paper from . . . ' 1 54 

Parochial Evangelization, appointed, 9 ; paper from . . . 209 
Conference of Preliminary Committees, proceedings of . . . .4-11 

Congregational Board of Publication, 341,411,415 

Congregational House in Boston, 249, 391, 397 

Connecticut, General Association, action of 3 

Consociationism, 461, 466, 468 

Convention of the Congregational churches of the North-west, action of . 1 

Council, National, of 1865; formally prepared, 1 ; preliminary committees in 
conference, 4 ; Council decided upon, 6 ; terms of representation, and time 
and place of meeting, 8 ; letters missive, 1 1 ; opens at Boston, 1 9 ; closes, 500 
Councils, previous, of the American Congregational churches, ... v 

Country, condition of, see " Committees " ; also 1, 82, 133, 147, 181, 240, 250, 254, 

259, 302 
Credentials, see " Committees " ; also 148 



Declaration of Faith, first draft, 95 ; second draft, 344 ; third draft, 361 ; as re- 
vised, 401; see "Committees"; also 10, 95, 99, 152, 196, 274, 281, 344, 359, 

384, 385, 397, 400, 496 
Devotional Exercises, see " Committees " ; also 28,30,78,99, 161, 208, 266, 320, 

365, 397, 404, 407, 466, 499, 500 
Devotional Service, special . 9, 81, 101, 182 

England, letters from . . 58, 62, 388, 447 

Evangelization in the West and South, see " Committees " ; also, 135, 196, 259, 264, 

266, 279, 298, 302, 319, 320, 360 



520 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 

^ PAGB 

Finance, see " Committees " ; also 9,11,360,496 

Forefathers' Rock, visit to 365 

Foreign Delegate^ credentials and papers of , , . , .58, 64, 238 

presentation of 58, 64 

welcome to 65 

replies from, — 

Dr. Massie, . . , . •« « . . .75 

Mr. Monod, 76, 83 

Dr. Raleigh, 71 

Dr. Thomas, 94 

Dr. Vaughan, .66 

Dr. Wilkes, 76 

response to '^ . . , . 321 

Religious Bodies, their course in the late war, see " Committees " ; also 

95, 321, 493 
Foreign Missions, see "Committees"; also 151, 162, 231; also "American 

Board," &c. 
Franc*, letter from •••••59 

General Theological Library, invitation from • . 30 

Goodrich, Collector, invitation from • , 298, 384 

Hook, Messrs., invitation from , , 239 

Hubbard, Mr. G. G., invitation from , . 29*3 

Illinois, General Association, action of , . 2, 79 

Indiana, General Association, action of 2 

Invitation, preliminary letters of 11-17 

Iowa, General Association, action of 2 

Italy, churches of, see "Committees"; also . , • 147,238,338-341 

Lincoln College, 181, 484 

Massachusetts Convention of Congregational Ministers, communication from 116 

reply to . . . 246 

Massachusetts General Association, action of 3 

Massachusetts Sabbath School Society, 229, 341 

Members of Council, list of, 19 ; list of, with nativities, 501 ; honorary, 25, 65, 

79, 410. See " Committees"; also 148, 149, 152, 162, 180, 196, 493 

Methodists, non-Episcopal, telegram and reply, 387 

Michigan, General Association, action of ,. 2 

Ministerial Education, see " Committees "; also .... 162,196,447 

Ministerial Support, see " Comniittees " ; also 154,385 

Minnesota, General Conference, action of 3 

Moderator, address of, on taking the chair, 30 ; thanks to, 497 ; closing address, 498 

New Brunswick, letter from 58 

New Hampshu-e, General Association, action of 3 

New York, General Association, action of 3 

Ohio, Greneral Conference, action of .2 



INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 521 

PAGE 

Organization, temporary . 27, 28 

permanent, . 29, 64, 71 

Parochial Evangelization, see " Committees " ; also . , . 209, 234, 486 

Pastoral Letter, 493 

Phonographic report, 79 

Pilgrim Hall, invitation to 245 

visit 365 

Plymouth, invitations to 82, 245 

excursion to 153, 258 

session at 361 

collation, «... 365 

addi-esses at — 

Eev. Dr. A. L. Stone, 366 

Dr. Timothy Gordon, - ... 368 

Edward S. Tobey, 368 

Charles G. Hammond, 369 

Eev. Dr. Joseph P. Thompson, 370 

Eev. Dr. Vaughan, . . . . 7 . . . 373 

Eev. Dr. Ealeigh, . .375 

Eev. Dr. Massie, . . 377 

Eev. JNIr. Monod, 379 

Eev. Dr. Post, . . . . . , . . . 380 

Eev. Dr. Bacon, 382 

Eev. Dr. Budington, . 383 

Prayer and Pasting, day of, see " Committees," 

President Johnson, address to 55 

reply from : 266 

resolutions to be sent to . ; . . . .254, 302 

Proposal for convening the Council, 1 

Publication of Proceedings, 495 

Pulpits, Boston, supplies to . . . 151, 181 

Eebels, civil rights of 250, 254, 259 

Eecords, disposal of 495 

Eeligious Books and Tracts, . . . * 238 

Eeports of Committees, see " Committees." 

Ehode Island Conference, action of ..•.•..,. 2 

Eevivals of religion, 237 

Eobinson, memorial to 497 

Eules of order, 55, 153, 253, 254 

Sabbath, the 359 

Sabbath Schools, 495 

Schools, the Bible in 237 

Secret Associations, 405 

Seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, see " Committees " ; also 260, 263, 268 

275, 293, 302 

method of raising, 360, 406, 408, 409, 464, 485 

Sermon by President Sturtevant, . . . . . . . .10,30,31 

thanks to 196 



522 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 

PAflB 

Sermon, application for 495 

Sessions, hours of . . . . -; • • • , . . 28, 30 

evening, proposed . . . , . , , . , 300, 301 
Suffrage, universal ......•,».. 254 

Synods, previous, in America, v. 

Temperance, see " Committees " ; also , , .181, 182, 208, 258, 358, 495 

Festival, invitation to . • . , . . . . 53, 54 

Thanks, votes of 11,384,497,498,499 

Tobacco, 258, 358, 479 

Utah, church in 181 

Vermont, General Conference, action of 3 

Waldensian church, letter from 238 

Wales, letter from . . . . .60 

Washington, church in, see " Committees "; also 181, 239, 249, 277, 405, 492 

Welcome, address of, by Eev. Dr. A. L. Stone, 26 

Worship, order of 237, 405, 407, 427, 467 

public, by the Council, 30 



INDEX OF NAMES OF PERSONS. 



PAGE 

Adams, 4, 6, 15, 19, 20, 21, 23, 27, 28, 71, 
82, 182, 183, 189, 234, 266, 302, 380, 

397, 403, 413, 491, 501 

Aiken, 15 

Alden, 21, 501 

Alexander, . . . . 19, 501 

Allen, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 21, 22, 24, 149, 

243, 252, 274, 318, 332, 357, 363, 

385, 426, 455, 466, 501 

Ambrose, . . . . . 62 

Anderson, iii., iv., 5, 6, 10, 18, 21, 134, 

240, 249, 275, 326, 393, 407, 454, 

486, 493, 496, 500, 501 
Andrew, .... 208, 234 

Andrews, 5, 10, 15, 21, 25, 191, 222, 231, 

501 
Anthony, .... 21, 501 

Ai-gyle, 323 

Arms, . .* . . 19,408,501 

Armsby, 21, 501 

Asbnry, ... 25, 58, 321 

Atkins, . . 20, 29, 64, 71, 501 

Atkinson, 24, 28, 134, 162, 243, 262, 

300, 303, 408, 494, 501 

Attacks, 27 

Augustine, 352 

Austin, 19, 501 

Avery, 19, 501 

Ayres, . . . 20,21, 148, 501 

Bacon, xi., 5, 7, 9, 11, 15, 19, 21, 28, 64, 

65, 80, 81, 100, 101, 102, 104, 115, 

117, 134, 148, 162, 181, 193, 208, 

245, 254, 256, 262, 264, 321, 326, 

336, 341, 343, 350, 363, 371, 382, 

384, 406, 408, 409, 419, 430, 445, 

447, 459, 473, 481, 484, 486, 494, 

501 

Badger, 5, 19, 55, 189, 275, 313, 410, 501 

Baker, 21, 502 



PAGE 

Baldwin, . . . . .5, 275 
Balkam, 21, 347, 350, 354, 358, 408, 502 

Bancroft, 143 

Barbour, 21, 502 

Bai-ker, .... 24, 28, 502 

Barnard, . . 22, 23, 134, 253, 502 

Barnes, 10, 205 

Barrows, . . .21, 162, 486, 502 

Barstow, 23, 24, 28, 133, 208, 243, 253, 

319, 356, 400, 403, 406, 408, 426, 

481, 496, 502 

Bartlett, 20, 21, 23, 134, 151, 273, 430, 

442, 448, 486, 502 

Bascom, 5, 6, 9, 10, 15, 20, 55, 147, 466, 

502 

Bates, 22, 502 

Beecher, 20, 24, 28, 29, 62, 85, 95, 99, 
134, 151, 152, 162, 183, 205, 239, 
243, 245, 253, 254, 278, 291, 297, 
301, 312, 321, 326, 332, 343, 354, 
383, 422, 455, 466, 474, 486, 493, 
502 
Bell, ... 24, 133, 243, 502 

Bellamy, 354 

Benan 61 



Bennett, , 

Bent, 

Bersier, 

Bigelow, 

Biscoe, 

Bishop, . 

Blagden, 

Blanchard, 



Bodwell 

Bonar, 

Booth, 



. 24, 502 

20, 502 

67 

. 86, 87, 90 

. 21, 502 

24, 134, 153, 430, 502 

10, 18, 25, 57, 390, 447, 502 

. 21, 312, 486, 502 

Bliss, 9, 24, 28, 147, 252, 259, 264, 279, 

307, 404, 408, 418, 463, 502 

Blodgett, 5, 7, 15, 24, 208, 420, 479, 481, 

482, 483, 502 

21, 162, 419, 485, 502 

134 

•.• . 19,253,393,502 
(523) 



524 



INDEX OF NAMES OF PERSONS. 



PAGE 

Bouton, . 4, 15, 23, 319, 385, 502 

Bowen, 23, 29, 55, 71, 181, 239, 293, 502 
Boyd, . . . . 19, 23, 502 

Boynton, . . . .24, 502 

Bradbury, . . . . 21, 502 

Bradford, . . 10, 18, 25, 381, 502 
Bradshaw, . . . . 23, 421, 503 
Brainerd, . . .19, 408, 503 
Brastow, . . . .24, 408, 503 
Brewster, .... 381, 387 

Bridge, 371 

Bright, 323 

Brintnall, .... 24, 503 

Bristol, .... 23, 134, 503 

Brockway, 486 

Brown, . . 5, 15, 21, 22, 23, 450, 503 
Bryant, 20, 28, 133, 243, 315, 408, 503 

Buchanan, 328 

Buckingham, xi., 9, 21, 29, 30, 161, 182, 

208, 235, 253, 262, 264, 266, 369, 

387, 483, 485, 492, 498, 503 

Budington, 5, 7, 15, 19, 23, 65, 116, 162, 

190, 231, 233, 249, 295, 298, 329, 

337, 383, 415, 503 

Buffum, ... 23, 486, 503 

Bugbee, 23, 503 

Bullen, .... 20, 503 

Bulkley, ...,.- vii 

Bulwer, 344 

Burr, 19, 100, 182, 302, 430, 448, 503 
Burt, . . 22, 222, 234, 486, 491, 503 
Butler, 5, 1 5, 23, 49, 239, 329, 412, 423, 503 
Button, . . . . . 19, 503 
Byington, . 24, 82, 162, 358, 486, 503 

Cady, . . 20, 24, 239, 412, 503, 
Caesar, , . ... . 450 
Calvin, . . . 45, 352, 355, 379 
Carpenter, 20, 21, 24, 71, 208, 253, 264, 

503 
Carter, 20, 21, 162, 233, 266, 408, 423, 

485, 503 

Caryl, 371 

Cavour, 69 

Chalmers, 306 

Chamberlain, . 9, 20, 208, 264, 503 

Chapin, . . .21, 25, 410, 503 
Chapman, . . . .23, 503 
Charpiot, . . . . 19, 503 

Chase, . . . .^ . 21, 503 
Cheney, .... 24, 503 



PAGB 

Chesebrough, . .19, 222, 491, 503 
Child, 21, 28, 29, 30, 254, 303, 319, 337, 

504 
Childs, . . . .21, 22, 23, 504 

Claggett, 23, 504 

Clapp, 5, 15 

Clark, xi., 20, 23, 24, 181, 208, 298, 338, 

- 396, 504 

Clary, . . 21, 24, 162, 262, 504 

Cleaveland, 85 

Clement, . i. . . .18 

Clift, 5, 6 

Cobden, ■ 323 

Cochin, . , . . . 92 

Cochran, . . 20, 253, 364, 393, 504 

Coe, 5, 24, 504 

Coffey, . ., . . . 22, 504 
CofiSn, ..... 317 

Cole, , . . . . . 21, 504 
Coleman, , . . . . 20, 504 
Collie, ... 25, 208, 481, 504 
Columbus, . . . . 451 

Conant, .... 24, 504 

Copernicus, . . . . 291 

Cordley, . 21, 222, 486, 491, 504 

Cornelius, , . . . 174 

Cornwell 32, 28, 504 

Cotton, . . . vii., 246, 388, 458 
Crane, . . . . * . 24, 504 

Crawford, 19, 21, 147, 162, 243, 262, 311, 

408, 504 
Crocker, . . . . . 21, 504 
Cromwell, , . . .67, 70, 325, 354 
Crosby, . . . ; .21, 504 
Crowell, . . . . . 458 
Cundall, . . . . 25, 408, 504 
Currier, 9, 23, 28, 135, 147, 486, 504 
Gushing, . 21, 253, 391, 473, 504 
Cushman, . . . 19, 28, 380, 504 
Cutler, . . . . 21, 504 
Cutter, . . . . .21, 504 
Cuyler, 85 

Daggett, . 23, 133, 243, 365, 493, 504 
Dana, . . 19, 21, 23, 208, 481,' 504 

Danforth, 5, 1 5 

Daniel, 61 

Daniels, . . 20, 25, 58, 321, 504 
Darling, . . . 24,186,505 
Davenport, . . . 178,446 
Davey, 389 



INDEX OF NAMES OF PERSONS. 



525 



PAGE 

Davies, .... 23,61,505 

Davis, 4, 15, 21, 23, 134, 152, 327, 377, 

393, 421, 430, 458, 486, 505 

Dean, 19, 505 

De Broglie, .... 89 

Da Gasparin, ... 83, 85, 322 
Delaraater, . ... 24, 505 

Delille, . . . . . 60, 83 
Denison, .... 19, 505 

Denny, 21,505 

Descombay, .... 86 

De Tocqueville, ... 32 

Dexter, iii., iv., 9, 10, 18, 21, 28, 29, 53, 

54, 64, 79, 116, 151, 222, 245, 358, 

365, 371, 390, 400, 447, 457, 481, 

485, 495, 497, 505 

DinsmorCj . . . . 21, 505 

Dodge, . . . ' . 21, 408, 505 

Doe, ... 25, 208, 264, 505 

Douglas, 19, 100, 152, 162, 233, 252, 

399, 505 
Dowse, .... 22, 505 

Drake, . . ^. . . 20, 505 
Drury, . . ' . ' . 22, 71, 505 

Duchemin, 87 

Duff, .... 25, 321 

Dunlap, 23, 505 

Dunn, , . .20, 80, 408, 505 

Duren, . . . 21, 71, 162, 505 

Dutton, 19, 28, 29, 30, 81, 116, 161, 252, 

259, 262, 264, 266, 269, 274, 277, 

296, 298, 303, 318, 319, 355, 364, 

384, 397, 405, 406, 409, 418, 484, 

482, 504 

Dwight, xi., 24, 25, 28, 253, 352, 505 

Dwinnell, .... 25, 505 

Eastman, .... 23,505 

Ebbs, 25, 321 

Eddy, 22, 162, 233, 252, 284, 344, 358, 
364, 384, 439, 462, 466, 482, 505 
Edgar, .... 19, 505 

Edwards, . . 61, 352, 354, 480 
Eggleston, 5, 6, 11, 15, 22, 427, 468, 505 
Eldridge, . 15, 19, 134, 461, 468, 505 

Eliot, 454 

Elizabeth (Queen), . 67,325,450 
Elmer, . . 22, 239, 387, 408, 505 
Emerson, .... 22, 505 

Emery, ... 20, 22, 162, 505 

Entler, .... 23, 505 







PAGE 


Esty, 


. 


. 22, 506 


Eustis, 5, 15, 


19, 


64, 101, 134, 148, 248, 
497, 506 


Evans, . 


. 


61, 62 


Evarts, 


• 


184, 189 


Fairchild, 




24,161,486,506 


Fairfield, . 


. 


20, 506 


Fargo, . 




. 305 


Farnsworth, 


. 


. 23, 506 


Farragut, 




. 228 


Fellows, . 


. 


. 21, 506 


Felt, . 




viii 


Ferrin, 




. 24, 82, 357, 506 


Field, 


19, 


22, 208, 466, 485, 506 


Finch, . 




. 25, 55, 253, 486, 506 


Fisch, 




. 60,89 


Fish, . 




22,29, 133, 243, 506 


Fisher, 10, 19 


25 


98, 134, 243, 486, 506 


Fisk, Fiske, 9, 


21, 


25, 134., 180, 344, 347, 
354, 475, 506 


Fitch, . 




22, 506 


Folger, . 


. 


. 22, 596 


Foote, . 




20, 506 


Ford, 


. 


. 24, 222, 491, 506 


Freeman, 




23, 134, 248, 506 


French, 


. 


15, 22, 24, 321, 506 


Frink, 


. 


. . 25 


Frothingham, 


. 


189 



Gale, . . . .22, 134, 506 
Gates, ... 20, 397, 506 

Gay lord, 9, 23, 28, 147, 162, 192, 314, 

408, 476, 477, 506 

Geer, 24, 506 

Gilbert, . . . . 19, 20, 506 
Goodenow, . . . . 21, 506 
Goodhue, . . . .24, 408, 506 
Goodrich, .... 298, 385 
Goodwin, 20, 222, 353, 371, 491, 506 
Gordon, . . 22, 245, 367, 506 

Gott, 22, 506 

Grant, . . . 274, 311, 328 

Greenhill, 371 

Griffin, 174 

Griffith, Griffiths, 23, 25, 61, 62, 321, 506 
Griggs, . . . . 19, 507 

Griswold, . . . . 24, 208, 507 

Grout, 24,507 

Guernsey, 15, 20, 99, 134, 162, 262, 309, 

408,430 476,507 



526 



INDEX OF NAMES OF PERSONS. 



PAGE 

Guizot, '89 

Gulliver, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 15, 20, 29, 55, 116, 

134, 152, 153, 180, 238, 284, 336, 

337, 384, 427, 430, 437, 441, 447,462, 

464, 466, 481, 483, 486, 496, 507 

Hall, . . 23, 162, 338, 485, 507 
Hammond, 5, 9, 11, 15, 20, 28, 29, 57, 101, 
135, 147, 148, 153, 161, 182, 196, 
244, 251, 253, 254, 279, 301, 320, 
337, 344, 361, 369, 384, 385, 387, 
397, 405, 416, 483, 486, 491, 496, 
499, 507 

Hampden, ^23 

Hanbury, 96, 97, 433 

Hankinson, 58 

Hannibal, 370 

Harding, ... 22, 162, 507 

Harlow, 22, 507 

Harris, 15, 21, 23, 79, 81, 133, 134, 161, 

243, 430, 486, 507 

Hart, . . . 5, 15, 24, 408, 507 

Harvard, 191 

Haskell, .... 22, 29, 507 
Haven, . 20, 161, 208, 253, 264, 507 
Hawes, 5, 15, 21, 24, 133, 162, 243, 408, 

446, 507 

Haynes, 22, 507 

Hazard, . . . 24, 162, 507 

Hazeltine, . . . . 23, 507 

Hazen, ....." 23, 507 
Healey, . . . .25, 162, 507 
Hemingway, . . . . 20, 507 

Hetherington, 40 

Hewins, .... 20, 507 

Hicks, 22, 515 

Higginson, viii 

Hill, . 10, 11, 14, 18, 25, 496, 507 

Hinsdale, .... 22, 507 

Hitchcock, . . . .22, 507 

Hoadley, . . . . 24,507 

Hobart, . . 5, 15, 23, 162, 408, 507 

Holbrook, 23, 71, 292, 320, 384, 406, 408, 

409, 414, 466, 485, 507 

Holmes, 9, 10, 23, 25, 28, 29, 133, 161, 

162, 222, 243, 253, 408, 464, 466, 

491, 507 

Holton, 25, 134, 239, 243, 277, 385, 485, 

507 
Hook, ...... 239 

Hooker, . . . vii., 178, 446 













PAGE 


Hopkins, 


23 


161, 196, 


208, 


239, 


343, 






352, 


354, 


486, 


507 


Howe, . 


. 


, 


22, 


380, 


515 


Howell, . 




. 




. 61, 


279 


Hoyt, 5, 


15, 22, 53, 134, 


430, 


486 


507 


Hubbard, . 




20,22, 


293, 


507, 


508 


Hughes, 




. 


. 


. 


61 


Hulburd, . 




. 




. 23, 


508 


Hunt, . 




. 


. 




5, 6 


Kurd, 5, 


11, 


15, 22, 29, 


420, 


495, 


508 


Hutchinson, 


. 


. 


. 


vii 


.,26 


Hyde, 




20, 24, 28, 


486, 


508 


Ide, . 




. 


. 22, 


253, 


508 


Ives, 


• 


4, 


7, 1£ 


, 21, 


508 


James, 






22, 24, 61 


508 


James (King), 


. 


. 


. 


440 


Jenkins, 




. 20,208, 


427, 


468, 


508 


Jenney, . 


. 


. 


20, 


208, 


508 


Jennings, . 




. . 24, 


208, 


264, 


508 


Jessup, . 


. 




. 


22 


508 


Johnson, 


21, 


23, 55, 86 


89, 


133, 


162, 


208, 


241, 


243, 254, 


264, 


266, 


282, 
508 


Jones, . 20, 22 


, 25, 58, 61 


, 62, 


321, 


508 


Judson, . 




. 




25, 


508 


Kedzie, . 




22, 162, 


208, 


306, 


508 


Keeler, 


. 


. 21 


,23, 


408, 


508 


Kelsey, . 




. 


24, 


162, 


508 


Kendall, 


. 




. 


. 


312 


Keyes, 




. 


. 


24, 


508 


Kimball, 


. 


. 


. 


22, 


508 


Kinsman, 




. 


. 


23, 


508 



Kirk, 10, 18,22, 30, 71, 101, 134, 181, 193, 

234, 244, 245, 264, 293, 336, 338, 

358, 390, 397, 405, 419, 447, 493, 

508 

Kittredge, . . . .24, 508 

Knapp, .... 24, 508 

Knight, . . .20, 387, 508 

Knox, 45 



Labaree, 


. 24, 28, 71, 486, 508 


Laboulaye 


. 89, 90, 92, 93 


Lafayette, . 


188, 322, 379 


Lambert, 


. 4, 5, 6, 10, 11 


Lane, 


. 20,22,508 


Langel, . 


■. 91 



^\ 



INDEX OF NAMES OF PERSONS. 



527 



Langworthy, iii., iv, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 15, 18, 


Mill, 323 


22, 28, 54, 55, 71, 82, 133, 161, 


Miller, . . .20, 184, 189, 509 


181, 182, 196, 208, 222, 239, 245, 


Milliken, .... 23, 509 


253, 313, 408, 409, 413, 426, 464, 


Mills, . . . .22, 425, 509 


485, 493, 508 


Milton, . . . .67, 70, 325 


Lanphear, ... 20, 427, 509 


Miner, . . 25, 239, 408, 412, 509 


Lawrence, 10, 20, 98, 161, 347, 353, 357, 


Mitchell, . . . . . ix- 


461, 509 


Monod, 25, 60, 67, 76, 78, 83, 89, 184. 


Learned, . . .20, 29, 162, 509 


379, 321 


Leavitt, 23, 134, 354, 358, 427, 430, 437, 


Monroe, . . .24, 184, 509 


439, 442, 454, 474, 492, 495, 496, 


Montandon, 89 


509 


Morgan, Morgans, . . . .61 


Lee, 317,377 


Morris, . . 22, 133, 243, 509 


Lewis, 20, 23, 134, 239, 243, 387, 509 


Morse, . . . . 184, 354 


Liggett, . . . 21, 134, 430, 509 


Murdock, . . . . 20, 510 


Lincoln, 63, 85, 86, 88, 91, 92, 187, 238, 


Myers, 22, 510 


241, 243, 266, 317, 329, 380, 383, 


Myrick, . . . . . 22, 510 


388, 485 




Lindsey, 377 


Napoleon, 324, 327, 336, 377, 469, 472 


Linsley, . . 20, 239, 244, 412, 509 


Nash, 22, 510 


Llewelyn, . . . . .61 


Nason, . . . '. .23, 510 


Lord, . . . . 21, 22, 408, 509 


Nelson, 271 


Love, . 5, 15, 25, 71, 208, 464, 509 


Newcomb, . . . 20, 22, 510 


Loyola, . . . . 169 


Newell, 21, 510 


LudloAV, 5, 6 


Newton, 475 


Lyman, 25,321 


Noyes, xi. 5, 9, 10, 21, 23, 25, 28, 134, 




222, 408, 510 


Madoc, 323 


Nutting, . . . . 20, 510 


Maltby, .... 22,409,509 


Nye, 371 


Marryat, 344 




Marvin, 10, 18, 22, 23, 71, 149, 196, 244, 


Oakes, ....;. X. 


274, 395, 405, 425, 427, 467, 509 


Oliver, 61 


Mary (Queen), .... 67 


Osborn, . . . . 23, 510 


Mason, . 20, 23, 245, 343, 408, 509 


Otis, .27 


Massie, 25, 65, 75, 85, 87, 161, 244, 316, 


Oviatt, .... 20, 409, 510 


321, 376 


Owen, 353, 371 


Mather, . . ix., x., 96, 427, 458 




Matthews, 61 


Packard, . . .22, 23. 208, 510 


Maximilian, .... 90 


Page, . . .4, 15, 21, 253, 510 


May,* . . .21, 133, 243, 509 


Paine, . . . . . 20, 22, 510 


McAll, 58 


Painter, 24, 510 


McCollom, .... 22, 509 


Palfrey, 458 


McKay, .... 22, 509 


Palmer, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 15, 18, 23, 24, 


McKeen, . . .24, 208, 509 


25, 28, 162,180, 196, 231, 285, 


McLeod, 312 


404, 474, 510 


Means, 116 


Parish, . . 24, 28, 162, 262, 510 


Melvin, . . . 23, 408, 509 


Park, 22, 134, 161, 357, 371; 430, 444, 


MeiTill, . . . . 20, 23, 509 


463, 464, 484, 485, 486, 510 


Men'iman, ... 25, 509 


Parker, 4, 10, 15, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 71, 


Metcalf, 389 


162, 208, 231, 233, 239, 262, 


Miles, 20, 22, 54, 71, 185, 193, 509 


408, 412, 510 



528 



INDEX OF NAMES OF PERSONS. 



Parsons, 

Partridge, . 
Patchin, 
Patterson, . 
Patton, 



PAGE 

23, 510 

. 20, 510 

22, 486, 510 

20, 486, 510 



20, 29, 52, 57, 64, 65, 79, 80, 

81, 100, 149, 151, 153, 248, 

257, 275, 296, 300, 319, 355, 

385,439, 444,456, 460, 511 

Pendleton, . . . . 23, 511 

Peregrine, . . . . 24, 511 

Perkins, . 22, 24, 148, 408, 446, 511 

Perry, 22, 511 

Peters, 5, 6 

Pettengill, . . . 20, 71, 511 

Pettibone, ... 25, 208, 511 

Pidduck, 58 

Pike, .... 22,268,511 

Pilatte, 239 

Pins the Ninth, . . . .189 

Pollard, 22, 511 

Pomeroy, 20, 21, 28, 134, 181, 243, 244, 

269, 511 
Porter, xiv., 20, 21, 28, 161, 174, 352, 
363,403, 511 
Post, 10, 23, 99, 133, 181, 240, 243, 244, 
250, 259, 289, 305, 380, 486, 511 
Pratt, . 20, 22, 25, 239, 277, 387, 511 
Pressense, . . . .• 67, 93 
Preston, . . . .20, 71,511 

Price, 61,305 

Pritchard,- 61 

Pimchard, . . • . . 457, 458 
Putnam, 5, 9, 15, 24, 29, 71, 161, 181, 

253, 511 

Quint, iii., iv., 7, 10, 15, 22, 29, 71, 78, 
80, 81, 104, 116, 117, 129, 134, 
148, 149, 150, 151, 181, 237, 245, 
246, 248, 251, 253, 258, 302, 326, 
358, 361, 375, 384, 385, 397, 400, 
405, 408, 430, 439, 447, 448, 457, 
461, 466, 475, 482, 486, 493, 495, 
497, 511 

Raleigh, 25, 57, 59, 66, 71, 75, 76, 244, 

321, 335, 374, 375, 377 

Ramsdell, . . . . 23, 511 

Head, Reed, 21, 22, 162, 385, 408, 511 

Rees, 61, 64 

Richards, . . 21,23,61,408,511 
Robbins, . . 21, 22, 134, 243, 511 



PAGE 

Roberts, 61 

Robinson, 20, 22, 24, 35, 45, 178, 222, 
374, 383, 486, 497, 511 

Poot, 24, 511 

Rouse, 23, 512 

Rowlands, 61 

Poy, . . .25, 79, 80, 197, 512 
Runnells, . . . . 23, 512 
Russell, . 21, 22, 91, 253, 393, 512 
Ruston, 389 

Sabin, .... 22, 512 

Safford, ... 24, 490, 512 

Salter, 21, 23, 28, 134, 239, 277, 387, 430, 

486, 512 
Savage, vii., 4, 15, 20, 23, 134, 243, 337, 
397, 417, 485, 511 
21, 440, 512 

20, 512 
. . .387 

22, 239, 387, 408, 512 

23, 134, 243, 408, 512 
24, 512 

24, 512 
. 22, 27, 512 

. 323 

389 

.23, 486, 512 

. 20, 278, 408, 512 

154, 161, 178, 386, 512 

21, 512 
. i., 311, 328 

25, 321 
25, 512 

. 5, 15 
21, 512 
21, 512 
.24, 512 
55,59,82,253,323,512 
23, 512 
. 20, 512 
. 25, 512 
. 22, 512 
. 303 
21,208, 481, 485, 512 
21, 513 
381 
.22, 513 
22, 23, 239, 385, 400, 410, 414, 
473, 513 
Stephens, Stevens, 5, 15, 20, 62, 513 



9,25 



Sawyer, 

Scarboro, 

Scott, . 

Scudder, . 

Seccombe, 

Segur, 

Selden, . 

Sewall, 

Shaftesbury 

Shaw, 

Shedd, . 

Shekon, . 

Shepard 

Shepley, 

Sherman, . 

Shen-iU, 

Sherwin, 

Sickles, . 

Sleeper, 

Sloan, . 

Smiley, 

Smith, 20, 22, 24 

Snow, . 

Soule, 

Spaulding, 

Spooner, 

Spurgeon, 

Stackpole, 

Stacy, 

Standish, 

St. Clair, 

Steams 



INDEX OF NAMES OF PERSONS. 



529 



PAGE 

Stimson, Stinson, . 4, 15, 20, 513 

Stockbridge, 486 

Stoddard, 10, 18, 22, 27, 71, 153, 181, 

195, 253, 363, 397, 496, 513 

Stone, iii., 10, 18, 23, 25, 28, 82, 153, 162, 

262, 366, 404, 513 

Storrs, . 10,15,102,430,448,486 

Streeter, 5, 15 

Strieby, 5 

54, 195 
. 23, 446, 513 



Stringham, 
StroDOf. 



Stuart, 354 

Sturtevant, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 15, 20, 23, 

29, 31, 55, 65, 134, 147, 162, 196, 

238, 245, 249, 250, 255, 264, 267, 

•271, 292, 326, 354, 397, 408, 485, 

486, 513 

Sumner, . . . . .234 

Sunderland, . . . . 85, 87 

Swain, . 24, 134, 409, 486, 492, 513 

Swan, 21, 513 

Sweetser, 22, 239, 447, 467, 471, 474, 

475, 513 
Sykes, . . . . 24,513 

Taft, 22, 513 

Taintor, 20, 513 

Talbot, 21, 515 

Talcott, . . . • .20, 313 

Tarbox, 5 

Tarr, 23,513 

Taylor, 20, 21, 22, 24, 134, 151, 208, 
477, 479, 485, 513 

Tenney, 21,513 

Thatcher, 27 

Thomas, 21, 25, 61, 62, 94, 208, 321, 513 

Thome, 5, 15, 24, 133, 243, 244, 287, 

292, 477, 513 

Thompson, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 15, 23, 28, 

29, 54, 60, 82, 94, 95, 98, 151, 161, 

182, 183, 194, 196, 231, 251, 253, 

257, 328, 347, 370, 387, 388, 409, 

415, 447, 486, 499, 513 

Thurston, . 22, 208, 481, 482, 513 

Titcomb, 21, 513 

Tobey, iii., iv., 10, 18, 23, 25, 365, 368, 

408, 513 

Todd, 21, 22, 82, 116, 150, 184, 189, 190, 

196, 252, 275, 296, 298, 514 

Toombs, 193 

Toothaker, . . . . 21, 514 
34 



PAGE 

Torrey, 24,514 

Tupper, 20, 514 

Turner, xii., 5, 15, 21, 71, 208, 272, 280, 

292, 493, 514 

Twining, . . 19, 162, 299, 514 

Tyler, . . . .24, 408, 514 



Upham, 



457, 458 



Vallette, 89 

Vaughan, 25, 30, 31, 57, 59, 66, 71, 73, 
93, 94, 321, 329, 335, 372, 378, 422 

Vaurigaud, 89 

Victoria (Queen), ... 63 

Vinet, 67, 93 

Walker, 21, 22, 24, 117, 134, 147, 29'6, 
326, 338, 514 

Wallace, 23, 514 

Warner, . . . - . 23, 24, 514 
Warren, . 22, 27, 54, 193, 195, 514 

Washington, . . . 322, 379 

Watkins, .... 24, 61, 514 
Watson, . . 21, 208, 408, 514 

Webb, 22, 208, 300, 466, 482, 483, 485, 

514 
Webster, . 20, 133, 188, 243, 514 

Weld, . . . .' . viii. 

Wellman, 5, 10, 15, 18, 22, 23, 115, 417, 

497, 514 



Wells, . 
Wesley, 
Wheeler, 
Wheelock, . 
Wheelwright, 
Whipple, . 
White, . 
Whitefield, 
Whitmore, 
Whittington, 
Whittlesey, 
Wickes, . 
Wilder . 
Wilkes, . 
WiUard, 
Willcox, . 
Willey, 
Williams, 20, 23 

Williston, 
Wilson, 



. 305 

. 37, 40 

20, 133, 243, 514 

. 24, 514 

vii. 

5 

20, 514 
. 27, 303 

22, 514 

61 

20, 29, 150, 514 

24, 208, 408, 514 

23, 208, 514 

. 76, 321 

20. 22, 27, 408, 514 

. 22, 514 

21, 514 
24, 61, 239, 253, 258, 

387, 481, 485, 514, 515 

22, 161, 253, 262, 515 

. 22, 59, 381, 515 



630 



INDEX OF NAMES OF PERSONS. 



PAGE 

Winslow, . . . 23, 24, 515 

Winthrop, vii., viii., 54, 186, 193, 381 

Wolcott, 24, 29, 71, 99, 100, 101, 181, 

196, 208, 233, 238, 249, 250, 258, 

298, 347, 358, 384, 387, 394, 420, 

474, 475, 477, 481, 482, 515 

Wood, . . . .22, 23, 321, 515 

Woodford, . . . . 20, 515 

Woodrii£f, ... 23, 85, 515 



PAQE 

Woods, . . .21, 354, 445, 515 

Woolsey 343 

Worcester, 354 

Wright, 20, 22, 24, 239, 253, 393, 515 

Xavier, 169 

Young, .... 162,312,515 



;i 



t 



^ 





i 



t 







